London (AFP) – Swansea edged Leeds 1-0 in their top-of-the-table Championship clash on Saturday to go two points clear in their best start to a league campaign in 40 years.
Wayne Routledge scored a minute from time in a match Leeds dominated at Elland Road but their weakness from last season came back to haunt them as they failed to take their chances.
Routledge struck after Leeds had failed to clear a corner several times to maintain manager Steve Cooper’s dream start to his spell, despite selling several key players in the close season.
Cooper, who coached the England Under-17 team to World Cup glory in 2017, appears to be rewarding the bold move by the board to hire him to replace Graham Potter after he left for Brighton.
Leeds are three points adrift of Swansea heading into the international break but are third in the table, one point behind surprise packages Charlton, managed by former Leeds midfielder Lee Bowyer.
Bowyer’s side, who he guided to promotion last term, remain unbeaten this season after recording their fourth win, beating Reading 2-0.
Bowyer is enjoying a happier time than his former Leeds team-mate Jonathan Woodgate, although the latter may have seen some encouraging signs in the manner in which his Middlesbrough outfit eked out a 2-2 draw with in-form Bristol City.
However, Boro have just six points from their opening six matches and are two points off the bottom three.
The drop zone include Huddersfield whose return to the second tier after being relegated from the Premier League is proving a nightmare.
They slumped to another defeat on Saturday with Luton coming from a goal down to win 2-1 and leave the Terriers with just a point and only above Stoke on better goal difference.
Fulham got the weekend action started on Friday with a 1-1 draw at Cardiff.
The match was most notable for Fulham midfielder Harry Arter being sent off in the second half for two bookable offences against his former club.
