EFL Championship REVIEW 22 Aug 2026: Millwall and Charlton set early pace as West Ham miss late penalty

Two games into the Championship season, Millwall and Charlton are the only unbeaten sides left, both on six points and both there via wins that had a nasty second half for their opponents. Millwall put three past Norwich City without reply, Tairyk Arconte scoring either side of half-time (18', 58') before Luke Cundle added a third in the 84th minute; Norwich were already down to ten men by then, Jose Cordoba sent off in the 64th minute. Charlton, meanwhile, won 2-1 at West Ham, Lloyd Jones scoring inside seven minutes and Tyreece Campbell doubling it early in the second half before Joel Piroe pulled one back for the home side in the 74th. West Ham had a way back to a point in stoppage time, but Taty Castellanos put a penalty wide, and the Hammers stayed on one point from two games.

There was a similarly late twist at Southampton, who trailed Stoke's Ethan Galbraith equaliser at 1-1 before Divin Mubama restored the lead in the 89th minute and Ryan Manning added a stoppage-time penalty; Stoke finished the game with ten men after Svante Ingelsson's 90th-minute red card, and Southampton's 3-1 win came in off the back of Cyle Larin's early opener.

Blackburn also came from behind at Ewood Park, Jeremy Sarmiento putting Middlesbrough ahead inside twelve minutes before Andri Gudjohnsen levelled in the 49th minute and Todd Cantwell struck in the 55th to complete a 2-1 turnaround. Wolves were the day's most emphatic winners, Fer Lopez scoring either side of Adam Armstrong's second-half strike as they beat Preston 3-1 on the road, Jordan Thompson's stoppage-time goal only a consolation for the home side. Portsmouth were nearly as ruthless at Sincil Bank, Ryan Kavuma-McQueen and Adrian Segecic scoring inside the first sixteen minutes before Reeco Hackett-Fairchild's penalty gave Lincoln City brief hope; Ebou Adams settled it at 1-3, a result our model had favoured Portsmouth for at 49%.

Two matches produced 2-2 draws built on repeated lead changes. Bristol City led at Birmingham through Scott Twine before Sam Tickle turned a cross into his own net to level it before the break; Dom Ballard put the visitors back in front with five minutes left, only for Demarai Gray to equalise from the penalty spot in stoppage time. Derby and Cardiff also traded blows four times: Cian Ashford's early goal was cancelled out by Carlton Morris, Yousef Salech restored Cardiff's lead before half-time, and Bobby Clark levelled again four minutes into the second half to make it 2-2.

Elsewhere, QPR and Bolton shared a goalless draw at Loftus Road, Swansea and Sheffield United did the same at the Swansea.com Stadium, and Wrexham drew 1-1 with Watford, Luca Kjerrumgaard's 14th-minute opener for Watford cancelled out by Daniel Imray's equaliser in the 22nd minute.