EFL Championship game week 1 action has come to a close and it brought shocks and thrills in a good welcome back to the EFL.

It all kicked off on Friday night in a Yorkshire night as last years Play Off finalists Huddersfield hosted recently relegated Burnley. Burnley matched expectations and defeated Huddersfield in a one sided encounter 1-0 with debutant Left Back ,Ian Maatsen, with the only goal of the game. Burnley took 70% possession and dictated play with Josh Cullen at the heart of it. Huddersfield didn’t register a shot on target and the win was expected for Burnley. Blackburn and Blackpool were both 1-0 winners at home with Blackburn defeating QPR with Midfielder Lewis Travis getting the only goal of the game. Blackpool were winners over last seasons strugglers Reading. Right Back ,Callum Connolly, early goal getting the win for Blackpool.

The Saturday games also produced 4 draws. Rotherham/Swansea and Middlesbrough/West Brom both drew 1-1 with Luton/Birmingham and Wigan/Preston drawing 0-0. There was a further 3 big wins as Millwall defeated Stoke City 2-0 thanks to a brace from loanee Centre back Charlie Cresswell. There was exciting action in Yorkshire as Hull defeated Bristol City 2-1. Bristol City went 1-0 up thanks to last seasons talisman Andreas Weimann. Hull dragged the game back to 1-1 due to an Ozan Tufan penalty on the 70th minute mark before a 94th minute winner from debutant Jean Michael Seri. The biggest shock of the weekend was recently relegated Norwich City being defeated 1-0 due to a long range effort from Midfielder Romaine Sawyers. The game also saw 2 red cards as Perry Ng and Grant Hanley saw second yellow cards. There was also a bust up in the centre circle with both teams receiving punishment from the FA due to misconduct.

Sunday action also brought late drama as recently promoted Sunderland took on Coventry in a tight encounter. Jack Clarke opened the scoring for Sunderland on the 12th minute and it stayed like that until a 86th minute equaliser from Viktor Gyokeres to end the match in a draw. Mondays match featured the final recently relegated side as Watford took on last seasons play off semi-finalists Sheffield United. It started rough with 5 yellow cards before half time until Brazilian Joao Pedro scored the only goal of the game to seal it for Watford. That wrapped up the opening action of the season with some interesting results flying in but nothing major at this stage as it is still early on in the season. Let’s see what match week 2 can bring…