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Championship wrap: Bazunu header secures Saints a draw

Gavin Bazunu's injury-time header from a corner was deflected into the Preston goal by Ched Evans
Gavin Bazunu's injury-time header from a corner was deflected into the Preston goal by Ched Evans

Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu was instrumental in helping Southampton secure a draw with a last-gasp equaliser against Preston North End in the Championship.

Trailing 2-1 in the sixth minute of added time, the 21-year-old made his way into the opposition penalty area for a late corner.

The former Manchester City player met the set-piece, with his header deflecting off Ched Evans for an own goal to stretch Preston's winless run to half a dozen games.

Earlier Kyle Walker-Peters had brilliantly put the Saints into a 33rd-minute lead when he cut in from the right to curl a left-footed effort into the far corner before Preston, captained by Alan Browne and for whom Greg Cunningham lined up in defence, turned the game around inside the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Substitute Milutin Osmajic volleyed in an equaliser from the edge of the box before setting up Brad Potts to make it 2-1.

Wayne Rooney's Birmingham were booed off after his first home game in charge ended in a 2-0 defeat to Hull in the Championship.

The Tigers, managed by Rooney's former assistant Liam Rosenior, ended a four-match winless run to hand Rooney a second successive loss since replacing John Eustace at St Andrew's.

Liam Delap picked off a poor backpass from Emmanuel Longelo to give the visitors a 12th-minute lead and Jaden Philogene's long-range strike settled the contest with 16 minutes left.

Kevin Long played the full game for City, while Cyrus Christie saw game time off the bench for Hull.

Ipswich showed few signs of rustiness as they kept the pressure on leaders Leicester with a 1-0 win at Bristol City.

Nathan Broadhead's first-half goal earned Kieran McKenna's side a 10th victory in 12 league games as they played their first fixture since 7 October.

Jason Knight and Mark Sykes played the full game for City, who had Max O'Leary between the sticks.

Patrick Bamford missed a penalty before Pascal Struijk scored an own goal as Leeds' three-match winning run was halted by a 1-0 defeat at Stoke.

Struijk's 80th-minute own goal came five minutes after Bamford blazed over the crossbar from 12 yards.

Sheffield Wednesday's winless start to the season continued as they were swept aside 3-0 by fellow strugglers Plymouth.

Mustapha Bundu's 44th-minute free-kick put Argyle ahead and Morgan Whittaker pounced on a defensive error to make it 2-0 at half-time.

An unmarked Ryan Hardie then swept home a third in the 76th minute to emphatically end their four-match winless run.

Jeff Hendrick got just under a quarter of an hour for Wednesday in the second half.

Rotherham recorded just their second win of the campaign and a first clean sheet as Lee Peltier's second-half header and Oliver Rathbone's stoppage-time strike saw off Coventry 2-0.

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Watch St Patrick's Athletic v Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland on Friday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 7.45pm, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app

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