Portsmouth 1-0 Leicester: Bowat strike pushes Foxes closer to League One

Key facts

• Portsmouth beat Leicester 1-0 at Fratton Park, with Ibane Bowat scoring the only goal in the 63rd minute.
• Leicester have won just one of their last 17 league matches, plunging them closer to League One.
• Leicester's relegation could be confirmed as soon as Tuesday night if they lose at home to Hull.
• Portsmouth's third consecutive victory moves them closer to safety in the Championship relegation battle.
• Millwall beat QPR 2-0 to move second, with early goals from Derek Mazou-Sacko and Camiel Neghli.
• Southampton won 2-1 at Swansea, their seventh successive league victory, to move within a point of Millwall.
• Hull drew 1-1 with Birmingham, dropping two points in the playoff race, now two points ahead of Wrexham.
• Wrexham beat Stoke 2-0 with two goals in 69 seconds, keeping pressure on Hull for the final playoff spot.

Leicester's slide continues as Bowat punishes lacklustre Foxes

Leicester City's alarming descent towards the third tier took another grim turn as Ibane Bowat's second-half goal earned Portsmouth a 1-0 victory at Fratton Park. The scruffy 63rd-minute strike from a corner gave Pompey their third straight win and pushed the Foxes five points adrift of safety with only three matches remaining. Gary Rowett, the Leicester manager, offered a damning assessment of his side's performance. "I think it's been rinse and repeat of what I've said after the last five games," he said. "I think a lack of fight is something that's been labelled at the team over the course of a season. I don't know whether that's fair but I think we showed a lack of quality, a lack of composure. I thought we showed a lack of toughness to do the basics." Leicester's demotion to League One, a decade after winning the Premier League, could be confirmed as soon as Tuesday night when they host Hull City at the King Power Stadium.

Millwall and Southampton strengthen promotion claims

Millwall returned to second place in the Championship with a blistering 2-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers at the Den. Derek Mazou-Sacko opened the scoring after just three minutes, and Camiel Neghli added a second as the Lions controlled the London derby from the outset. The win ended a run of one victory in five that had stalled their promotion push. Alex Neil, the Millwall manager, praised his team's aggressive start. "We needed to get the fans onside, we needed to be aggressive, we needed to try to pin them in, sustain pressure. We certainly got that monkey off our back. I thought we attacked it, I thought we were aggressive," he said. Southampton maintained their remarkable surge towards the automatic promotion places with a 2-1 victory at Swansea. Cameron Archer volleyed home a superb late winner in the 90th minute, securing a seventh successive league victory for Tonda Eckert's side. The Saints have now won eight consecutive matches in all competitions, including their recent FA Cup success against Arsenal. They sit level on points with Ipswich, who have two games in hand, and just one point behind Millwall.

Hull's playoff hopes dented by Birmingham fightback

Hull City's grip on sixth place loosened after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Birmingham City at the MKM Stadium. Joe Gelhardt's 14th goal of the season gave the Tigers a first-half lead, but Tomoki Iwata's stunning long-range equaliser 13 minutes from time earned Birmingham a point. Defender Semi Ajayi blazed a close-range shot wide in stoppage time, squandering a chance to snatch victory. The result extended Hull's winless run to four league games, their worst sequence of the season, and left them two points ahead of seventh-placed Wrexham with three matches remaining. Sergej Jakirovic's side have now dropped 21 points from winning positions this season. "We're aware of dropping those 21 points. We have to be brave," Jakirovic said. "There are three games to go and we'll try to win the points. All three of us [Wrexham and Derby] have two away games so we'll see who will be the most successful."

Wrexham keep pressure on with emphatic victory over Stoke

Wrexham kept their playoff hopes firmly alive with a 2-0 home win over Stoke City, easing the anxiety that had built after consecutive defeats to Southampton and Birmingham. Two goals in the space of 69 seconds from George Thomason and Josh Windass in the first half settled the contest and restored confidence at the Racecourse Ground. Phil Parkinson, the Wrexham manager, said the aim was to take the race to the wire. "Let's not hand the playoff place to the other teams," he said. Wrexham travel to Oxford on Tuesday before finishing the regular season at promoted Coventry and at home to playoff-chasing Middlesbrough.

Relegation and promotion battles intensify with three games left

With only three rounds of fixtures remaining, the Championship's relegation and promotion battles are reaching a crescendo. Leicester's one win in 17 leaves them on the brink of an unprecedented fall from the Premier League to League One within a decade. Portsmouth, by contrast, have found form at the perfect moment, their third straight win lifting them towards safety. At the top, Millwall, Southampton, and Ipswich are locked in a tight contest for automatic promotion. Millwall's win over QPR lifted them to second, but Southampton's relentless run has closed the gap to a single point. Ipswich, who drew with Middlesbrough on Sunday, have two games in hand and remain firmly in contention. For Hull, the playoff picture is precarious. Their winless run and propensity to drop points from winning positions have left them vulnerable to Wrexham, who have momentum and a favourable run-in. The battle for sixth place could go down to the final day.

The bottom line

• Leicester are five points from safety with three games left; relegation could be confirmed Tuesday if they lose to Hull.
• Portsmouth's third straight win, courtesy of Ibane Bowat's goal, has moved them closer to Championship survival.
• Millwall's 2-0 win over QPR lifted them to second, but Southampton's seventh successive league win keeps them within a point.
• Hull's 1-1 draw with Birmingham extended their winless run to four games, dropping two points in the playoff race.
• Wrexham's 2-0 victory over Stoke, with two goals in 69 seconds, keeps them two points behind Hull with three games left.
• The Championship's automatic promotion and playoff races remain wide open with three matchdays remaining.