📈 EFL Review: Vardy stars; Wednesday crisis; Wimbledon hero | OneFootball

The Football League served up its usual helping of brilliant goals and astonishing late drama this weekend. Here are our highlights.

Championship

Moment of the weekend

It’s been quite the few months at Sheffield Wednesday.

An unlikely run to the League One play-off final saw them overcome a 4-0 deficit in the semi-final and then win at Wembley in the 123rd minute.

It should have been a summer of celebration but instead owner Dejphon Chansiri sacked coach Darren Moore and publicly called out the fan favourite for wanting a pay rise and a new deal.

New boss Xisco Muñoz has yet to win any of his first nine games this term and on Friday, Wednesday reached a new nadir. Chansiri released a remarkable statement via the club website in which be blasted “selfish” fans, insisted he had done nothing wrong in upping ticket prices and then said he wouldn’t put any more money into the club going forward.

All of this just a few hours before his club took on Sunderland in a crucial Friday night match. Within half an hour, the Black Cats were 3-0 up and cruising.

Wednesday are now one of only two clubs yet to win a game in the Football League this term and look destined for the drop unless something drastic changes.

Notable mentions: Stoke’s 90th minute winner at Bristol City; Leicester win away again; West Brom smash Preston for four.

Player of the weekend

He may be 36 and in the autumn of his career, but Jamie Vardy seems to have found a new lease of life at Leicester this season.

Vardy has started in the Foxes last three games and scored in all of them, with the latest strike coming away at Blackburn this weekend.

His first half goal was quintessential Vardy, with the veteran using his pace to get the better of a defender and firing in from a tight angle.

The win kept Leicester two points clear of Ipswich at the top of the Championship and means the east Midlands side are, along with Arsenal, the only team in the top four divisions to win every game away from home so far this term.

Notable mentions: Adam Armstrong (Southampton), Ellis Sims (Coventry), Kion Etete (Cardiff)

League One

Moment of the weekend

At the ninth time of asking, Fleetwood finally won a game in League One this weekend.

It’s been a nightmare start to the campaign for the Fishermen with former boss Scott Brown getting the boot at the start of September. Ex-Hearts and Bristol City coach Lee Johnson was the man chosen to replace the former Celtic captain and performances have improved dramatically.

The Lancashire outfit broke their winning duck after Jack Marriott’s close range finish saw them beat Leyton Orient at a rain-sodden Highbury.

Notable mentions: Portsmouth and Oxford both win again; Cheltenham join Wednesday as EFL’s only winless clubs

Player of the weekend

In his near 10-year career as a professional, Greg Leigh had never scored more than two in any one campaign.

The Oxford left-back now has three in his last four games.

Having joined from Ipswich in the summer, Leigh was supposed to come in as an experienced defender that would help shore up the Yellows backline. Instead he’s become League One’s answer to Roberto Carlos.

Oxford beat third place Stevenage 3-1 at the weekend, joining Portsmouth as the two outstanding sides in the third tier so far.

Notable mentions: Sam Vokes (Wycombe), Lasse Sorensen (Lincoln), Shaun McWilliams (Northampton)

League Two

Moment of the weekend

Paul Mullin made his first start of the season this weekend following his horror injury on Wrexham’s pre-season tour to America.

The Welsh club’s talisman suffered a punctured lung over the summer in an accident against Manchester United and has been slowly reintroduced to the squad over the past few weeks.

Saturday saw Wrexham host Crewe in something of a local derby and within 40 minutes, Mullin had pulled his side level with a overhead kick.

The 28-year-old repeated the trick just after the break with a typically emphatic finish as Wrexham then needed a 95th minute equaliser to draw 3-3.

They really are committed to keeping their ongoing documentary as dramatic as possible.

Notable mentions: Colchester beat Notts County in nine-goal thriller; Crawley continue their rise with another win; Salford end winless run

Player of the weekend

Ali Al-Hamadi is a name you will be hearing a lot more of in the years to come.

The 21-year-old was born in Iraq but settled in Liverpool as a youngster and came through the ranks and Tranmere and then Swansea.

Al-Hamadi joined AFC Wimbledon last summer and netted 10 goals in his debut campaign with the west London outfit.

And on Saturday he netted his first ever hat-trick as a professional as the Dons beat Tranmere 4-1 to go sixth in League Two.

A star is being born at Plough Lane.

Notable mentions: Daniel Kemp (Swindon), Jordan Slew (Morecambe), Jayden Fevrier (Colchester)