Irish international Finn Azaz and Flynn Downes secured Southampton a 2-0 victory at fellow play-off hopefuls Stoke as boss Tonda Eckert celebrated his 33rd birthday with a first Championship win on the road since November.
Saints have fallen short of expectations since last season's humiliating relegation from the Premier League and turned to the German coach, initially on an interim basis, after sacking Will Still in November.
Eckert found himself under pressure during a shaky festive period, but the mood at Southampton has improved somewhat after following a win against Sheffield United and derby draw at Portsmouth by beating Stoke.
Bosun Lawal played the whole game at centre-back for the hosts while Ryan Manning made a late appearance off the bench for the visitors.
Sonny Carey and Lyndon Dykes netted first-half goals for Charlton as they made it a 2-0 losing start for new Leicester interim boss Andy King at the King Power Stadium.
Foxes defender Caleb Okoli was sent off early on – the Italian was the last man when he fouled Miles Leaburn – and Jordan Ayew failed to convert a penalty in the second half to cap off a miserable afternoon for the hosts.
Leicester City owner Khun Aiyawatt 'Top' Srivaddhanaprabha was in attendance for King’s first match at the helm after the sacking of Marti Cifuentes on Sunday.
Wrexham moved back into the Championship play-off places after their hard- fought 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
Sam Smith's fourth goal in six Championship games was enough to see the Red Dragons return to sixth place after Derby’s dismantling of Bristol City on Friday night.
Things seem to be going from bad to worse for Wednesday this season following the departure of captain and star man Barry Bannan earlier in the week.
Wrexham on the other hand, had just one loss in their last eight in all competitions before coming into this one and knew victory was a must to keep their play-off push rolling on.
Conor Chaplin scored the first goal of his second spell at his boyhood club to set Portsmouth on course for a dominant 3-0 victory over relegation rivals West Brom.
Chaplin, who joined Pompey as a six-year-old before returning on loan from Ipswich, opened the scoring before January arrivals Millenic Alli and Ebou Adams gave them comfort.
Swansea overcame a poor away record with a convincing 2-0 victory at Vicarage Road that damaged further Watford's fading promotion push.
The Welsh side had picked up just three points out of a possible 18 on the road under new manager Vitor Matos, but were convincing winners with goals from Marko Stamenic and Josh Key.
Watford, by contrast, have not won a Championship match since New Year’s Day and played the final four minutes of injury time with 10 men after Nestory Irankunda was sent off for pushing Liam Cullen to the ground.
Lewis Koumas scored four minutes into his Hull debut as they moved within five points of the Championship summit after a 1-0 win at struggling Blackburn.
The 20-year-old, signed on loan from Liverpool on Friday, was introduced as a 77th-minute substitute and made an immediate impression, clinically slotting home the winner with nine minutes remaining.
Stuttering Coventry's grip at the top of the Championship loosened further as QPR came from behind to beat them 2-1 at Loftus Road.
Josh Eccles gave the Sky Blues an early lead but Rangers responded in the second half with Richard Kone’s equaliser and Nicolas Madsen’s winner.
Frank Lampard’s side’s are now level on points with second-placed Middlesbrough, whose 1-0 win at home to Norwich was their fourth consecutive victory.
