Burnley strengthened their position at the top of the Championship, holding on for a hard-fought 2-1 win at Swansea to make it six wins in a row for Vincent Kompany’s side. Ian Maatsen got both Burnley goals in the space of 10 first-half minutes. The left-back opened the scoring with a free-kick in the 12th minute, and doubled the advantage with a powerful strike from distance after Nathan Tella’s pass. Ollie Cooper pulled one back in the 27th minute after Aro Muric fumbled a Jay Fulton shot. Swansea had penalty appeals waved away when Joel Latibeaudiere went down in the box and could not find a leveller, with Burnley moving 14 points clear of third-placed Blackburn. The Clarets are also five points clear of Sheffield United in second after the Blades grabbed a late point at QPR in the evening kick-off. The hosts led through a deflected strike from Ilias Chair in the 11th minute after a defensive mix-up, but they were pegged back in stoppage time as John Egan’s shot through a crowded area found the back of the net. Earlier, Vakoun Bayo’s late winner earned Watford victory at managerless Norwich to get their promotion bid back on track and extend the Canaries’ winless run to four games. Slaven Bilic’s side bounced back from successive league defeats with an improved display. The visitors had the better of the first half although Grant Hanley’s headed goal for the hosts was correctly ruled offside. Bayo was brought on for the injured Samuel Kalu and was denied by Angus Gunn after the restart. Norwich appeared the more likely to get a winner late on as Marcelino Núñez twice went close, while Josh Sargent clipped the bar. But Watford struck on the break, Sarr squaring perfectly for Bayo to sidefoot home. Norwich slip to 11th, and are expected to appoint Dean Smith’s successor this week. Middlesbrough are up to fifth place after Michael Carrick’s side secured a sixth win in seven games with a 3-1 away win over Birmingham. Matt Crooks scored two in three minutes, heading home Jonny Howson’s cross in the 57th minute before pouncing on a mistake from George Friend to add a second. Tahith Chong pulled one back before Crooks played in Chuba Akpom to seal victory late on. West Brom are within a point of the playoff places after Daryl Dike’s goal on the hour mark was enough to beat Reading 1-0. Albion made it eight wins from their last nine in an otherwise uneventful game as the home fans continued their protests against the club chairman, Guochuan Lai, off the pitch. Rock-bottom Wigan endured a third 4-1 defeat in the space of seven days as Hull moved away from danger with victory at the DW Stadium. Nathan Broadhead had got the Latics level on the hour after Jacob Greaves’s opener for Hull. The visitors regained the lead with 12 minutes left via a deflected strike from Óscar Estupiñán, and Wigan imploded defensively, allowing substitute Tyler Smith to strike twice late on as Hull moved seven points clear of the bottom three. Ched Evans headed in a winner in the third minute of time added on as Preston snatched a 1-0 victory at Stoke in a game delayed due to traffic problems in the area.