Blackburn were gutless in their defeat to Oxford, John Mousinho fumes at the display from his Pompey side, and West Brom are winless in 13.
OXFORD 1-0 BLACKBURN
Jamie Donley scored the only goal of the game to see Matt Bloomfield’s side make it three wins in a row for the first time since they returned to the Championship in 2024, in their bid for survival despite being written off by many.
The U’s climb up to 22nd, level on points with Leicester City who sit outside the drop zone on goal difference.
Blackburn, who are in 20th and just a point above the bottom three with nine league games remaining, also had penalty appeals turned down.
Throughout the game, there were Olé’s when Blackburn’s centre backs were passing around at the back as well as chants of “we’ve had a shot” and “you’re not fit to wear the shirt”.
Blackburn boss Michael O’Neill speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire:
“I’m disappointed with the result and performance, particularly in the first half. In the second we were much more improved, but we were poor in the first half and that’s where we lost the game.
“Overall it doesn’t really matter what system you play when you can’t take care of the ball, we gave it away cheaply and that cost us tonight.
“I think we could have been stronger defensively too, we’ve got nine games left and have to maximise what we can take in those games.
“The squad’s extremely stretched and it’s unlikely we’ll get any of the injured players back before the international break so that will be a challenge.”
Oxford United boss Matt Bloomfield speaking to BBC Radio Oxford:
“We had Amelia in our hearts tonight. I really wanted to do the evening justice with our performance; nothing can replace what her poor parents have suffered this weekend and what they have lost.
“But we wanted to as a football club to pay our respects in the best possible way, respectfully off the pitch and then to try and put a performance in on the pitch that hopefully made a few people smile this evening.
“We are giving it everything we possibly have on the pitch at the moment, there’s still loads more work to go and we’re not going to get carried away but you can see the spirit that the lads are playing with at the moment.”
De Neve cannot play for this club again. Useless. Absolutely useless all of them. #Rovers pic.twitter.com/sDWk8R18xq
— Martin MJ (@MartinMJ22) March 11, 2026
The away end sing “You’re not fit to wear the shirt.”#BRFC | #Rovers pic.twitter.com/kDyCBdEF4T
— RoversXtra (@RoversXtra) March 11, 2026
I’ve been supporting #Rovers for a long time and this is the worst team I’ve seen. No creativity, no endeavour, scared. Out of their depth and clueless. Rudy Gestede, what have you done? pic.twitter.com/HDNutZBmcl
— Anthony Wootton ✍️ (@arwootton) March 11, 2026
PORTSMOUTH 1-2 SWANSEA
Swansea were in control via first-half goals from Ethan Galbraith and a deflected Josh Key strike, while Portsmouth also struck the woodwork early on.
The hosts did manage to get a goal back through Jacob Brown on 64 minutes, but couldn’t find complete a comeback, leaving Portsmouth sitting 19th, just four points above the relegation zone, but have now picked up three straight home league defeats for the first time since 2018 — while it’s also five losses in their last eight games.
Swansea are up into the top half of the table for the first time since October and are now five points off the play-off places.
Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho:
“Really, really poor in the first half, much improved in the second half and nearly got ourselves back into it, but we gave ourselves too much to do, so very disappointing.
“When there’s such a contrast in halves, you think where was that intent in the first half, where was that aggression, that front-footedness that we just didn’t have?
“We were a couple of yards off everything [in the first half]. Then in possession we didn’t play. Very frustrating overall.”
Swansea head coach Vitor Matos:
“It is not an easy place to come. Portsmouth have a lot of weapons, especially in terms of set-pieces, long balls, crosses ad we knew that.
“Being able to put pressure on and control the space in behind is not easy so towards the end the fatigue comes a little bit.
“I think the bench was really important for that – they came on and helped the team keep concentration.
“Sometimes you need to win with more than controlling the ball, with controlling the space, and I think we did that today.”
WEST BROM 1-1 SOUTHAMPTON
The Baggies though they were about to win their first game of 2026 thanks to Jayson Molumby’s first-half goal, but Cyle Larin netted a dramatic injury-time equaliser.
It sees Southampton extend their unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions, and three points outside the play-off zone, while also denting West Brom’s hopes of moving away from the relegation zone, sitting 23rd and a point from safety.
West Brom boss James Morrison told BBC Radio WM:
“I have mixed emotions. I’m proud of the lads, proud of the performance, proud of everyone – the crowd stuck with us, and cheered us on. It was a sucker-punch at the end, which we have to respect because they’re a top team. But we matched them and have to learn from that.
“It’s about game management. It was our throw into the box. Could we have kept it in the corner? Can we stop the cross? Are we a bit deep? Can we hold the line? Just things like that.
“We are all in this together. I thought we were shaky early on but once we got balls into the box we looked dangerous, I was looking at the lads because Southampton are a physical side – they weigh you down with the ball – so I had to use my bench, and utilise it as best as I could.
“The positive we can take is that we matched Southampton. They won in the FA Cup against Fulham, and we limited them to one or two chances. Now we need to back this performance up with a win on Saturday. As you imagine the dressing room is low, but it’s up to me to pick us up and go again on Saturday.”
Southampton boss Tonda Eckert told BBC Radio Solent:
“It was very important to get that late equaliser. We have yet to play to Wrexham, so from now on it is in our own hands.
“We all know – it’s not a secret – that we can play better. It was important to dig deep. Tonight showed the character of the team. There will be more games that look more beautiful, but today we showed we can play better, but we played a good team who are fighting for everything. Today we have to be happy to take the point and move on.
“Four away games on the bounce was always going to be tough. It is not easy to maintain the energies. We are pushing, now we have two days to recover, and we’ll go strong again against Coventry.
“There were things today that didn’t go in our favour, but it is what it is. It was a big and important character test for us.”
LEICESTER 2-0 BRISTOL CITY
Leicester City manager Gary Rowett said to BBC Radio Leicester:
“It’s nice to feel the stadium buzzing and I’m pleased with the players’ performance. I could feel the players’ energy coming back into the dressing room afterwards.
“They worked incredibly hard and I think we’ve been unfortunate not to have had the first win yet.
“We got the set-piece for the first goal, with Ben [Nelson] getting on the end it. And he did that for me last year in a crucial game towards the end of the season [at Oxford]. I think he should do that more.
“The second goal comes from 18 passes and we move the ball well, are nice and composed and we get a nice cross. You do wonder with his wrong foot if he [Fatawu] will get the power and accuracy, but he does exactly that. He is a magical player and he showed that tonight with that finish.
“To go 2-0 up put us in a nice comfortable position and I was keen to see how we would handle that.
“To get the clean sheet is really nice. That gives us confidence and I can’t actually believe it’s been that long since we had one. We have to value clean sheets and have to value the defensive discipline. And we have done in the games since we came in.”
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