EFL round-up: Southampton win derby as Savage makes winning league start

Southampton held on with 10 men to beat Portsmouth in the south coast derby, while Robbie Savage began his league reign at Peterborough with victory at Leicester.

James Bree settled Sunday’s meeting at St Mary’s, despite Cameron Bragg’s dismissal before half-time. Elsewhere, Swansea stayed top of the Championship, Plymouth needed a stoppage-time winner to maintain their lead in League One and Salford continued their winning run in League Two.

FULL-TIME: Southampton edge a fiery South Coast derby despite Cameron Bragg’s red card as James Bree strikes to sink Portsmouth! 💪 pic.twitter.com/eWcSciiQOh

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 11, 2026

Championship: Southampton hold firm as Swansea stay top

Southampton played the entire second half a man short but protected their lead to secure a 1–0 victory over Portsmouth.

Bree struck after 20 minutes, finishing from Finn Azaz’s pass. Saints’ task became considerably harder when Bragg received a second yellow card in the 44th minute.

Portsmouth had more than half a match to make their extra player count, but Southampton’s defence held out to secure the derby spoils.

Swansea had come from behind on Saturday to beat Norwich 2–1 and retain first place.

Jacob Wright put Norwich ahead, leaving Vitor Matos’s side trailing at the interval. Moussa Yeo equalised before Adam Idah completed the recovery against his former club, ensuring the leaders returned to league action with three points.

Middlesbrough kept the pressure on with a 1–0 victory over Wolves in their 150th anniversary fixture.

Will Lankshear headed in Tommy Conway’s cross after 57 minutes for his seventh league goal of the season. Boro moved above West Ham into second, two points behind Swansea.

Substitute Kyle Joseph almost added a second when his header struck the underside of the crossbar, but Lankshear’s contribution proved enough. Sky Sports’ match report details a victory that handed Wolves their second league defeat of the campaign.

West Ham had opened the weekend with a frustrating 1–1 draw against QPR on Friday night.

Nicolas Madsen’s penalty gave Rangers the lead before Jarrod Bowen equalised in the 70th minute. Bowen then had the chance to win it from the spot in stoppage time, only for Pierce Charles to save his penalty and keep out Arne Engels’s follow-up.

Tomas Soucek returned to the West Ham side after the injury absence covered in Dave’s Championship team-news round-up, but the Hammers missed the opportunity to go top overnight.

Championship table: top five

Pos	Club	Played	GD	Points
1	Swansea City	9	+8	20
2	Middlesbrough	9	+5	18
3	West Ham United	9	+11	16
4	Stoke City	9	+2	16
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers	8	+4	14

Swansea lead Middlesbrough by two points, while Wolves have a game in hand on the four sides above them.

View the full Championship table.

League One: Savage wins at Leicester as Plymouth leave it late

Peterborough gave Savage a convincing start to his league tenure with a 3–1 victory at Leicester, scoring all three goals before half-time.

Owura Edwards opened the scoring after 12 minutes and Harry Leonard doubled the advantage in the 36th. Warren O’Hora’s own goal, as he diverted Ethan Williams’s effort, made it 3–0 shortly before the break.

Leicester manager Russell Martin made three changes at half-time, but the home side had left themselves too much to recover. Emil Riis pulled one back after 68 minutes following work from substitute Wes Burns.

Peterborough’s first-half finishing had already decided the contest, giving Savage three points from his opening league assignment.

At Home Park, Plymouth needed a much later intervention to beat AFC Wimbledon 2–1 and stay top.

Jayden Stockley put Wimbledon ahead in the 16th minute, but Caleb Watts equalised nine minutes later after goalkeeper Josef Bursik could not hold Will Evans’s shot.

Watts was deputising up front for the injured Bim Pepple. Substitute Xavier Amaechi eventually supplied the winner, sweeping home in stoppage time after Alex Hartridge headed the ball into his path.

Wimbledon had threatened a second goal themselves, with Freddie Simmonds hitting the crossbar, before Amaechi settled the contest.

League One table: top five

Pos	Club	Played	GD	Points
1	Plymouth Argyle	10	+6	19
2	Bradford City	9	+3	17
3	Stockport County	9	+9	16
4	Huddersfield Town	9	+7	16
5	Cambridge United	9	+3	16

Plymouth hold a two-point advantage, although each of the next four sides has played one game fewer.

View the full League One table.

League Two: Grant keeps Salford winning as Barnet stun Rovers

Salford made it four successive league victories with a 2–0 win at Cheltenham, Jorge Grant scoring both goals late on.

Cheltenham’s resistance was weakened when Ben Stevenson was sent off in the 78th minute for denying Brendan Wiredu a goalscoring opportunity.

Grant broke the deadlock before adding his second in stoppage time from Kallum Cesay’s pass. His first goals of the season kept Salford top and delivered their first victory away at Cheltenham.

Barnet produced an even sharper late turnaround at Bristol Rovers, scoring three times from the 79th minute onwards to win 3–1.

Ellis Harrison had given Rovers a fourth-minute lead, which survived until Adam Senior equalised at the back post.

Zac Williams then put Barnet ahead with a strike from the edge of the area before Kabongo Tshimanga finished a stoppage-time counter-attack.

Rovers’ record home winning run was over, while Barnet remained unbeaten in the league and just one point behind Salford.

League Two table: top five

Pos	Club	Played	GD	Points
1	Salford City	10	+5	19
2	Barnet	8	+9	18
3	Crewe Alexandra	10	+5	18
4	Gillingham	10	+5	16
5	York City	9	+6	15

Barnet have two games in hand on Salford, while third-placed Crewe also remain unbeaten.

View the full League Two table.

Top-five standings checked on Sunday 11 October 2026.

For more from the weekend, read Dave’s Championship coverage and our Premier League talking points from Saturday’s matches.