Sunderland slip to second after Michael Smith brace secures victory for Rotherham United over Bolton Wanderers

Lee Johnson’s side have been leapfrogged by Rotherham United who end the day top of the League One table.
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Despite a handful of postponements because of Covid issues, six League One fixtures did go ahead today.

Rotherham United were the biggest winners of the afternoon as they ended the day top of the table following a 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers, courtesy of a Michael Smith brace.

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Rotherham opened the scoring just before half-time but were pegged back by an Eoin Doyle strike just two minutes later.

Rotherham United's Michael Smith grabbed a brace today to fire the Millers into first place (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)Rotherham United's Michael Smith grabbed a brace today to fire the Millers into first place (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
Rotherham United's Michael Smith grabbed a brace today to fire the Millers into first place (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

The home side dominated the game and got their noses in front once again when Smith struck what turned out to be the winning goal in the 74th minute.

Victory for the Millers means they are now one point ahead of the Black Cats with both sides having played exactly 24 games each.

Wycombe Wanderers also kept the pressure on Sunderland with a 1-0 win away at The Valley, a result that leaves the Chairboys four points behind the Black Cats having played the same amount of games. The pair meet in a week’s time at Adams Park.

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One ray of comfort for Sunderland supporters today came from games involving Oxford United and MK Dons however.

Neither side could secure all three points with Oxford drawing 1-1 at home to Cheltenham Town as MK Dons were held to a stalemate by Gillingham.

These scores mean Sunderland are ten points clear of 7th placed MK Dons.

The other game in the division finished 4-1 to Burton Albion against Crewe Alexandra.

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