League round-up: Alexander spot on as Rangers draw the wrong conclusion

A fourth consecutive draw, 1-1 at home to Burnley, cost Queens Park Rangers top spot in the Championship on a day that saw Coventry City move up to a heady fourth, Reading come back to win 4-3 and gatecrash the top six, and five teams line up outside the play-offs, all level on 21 points.

At Loftus Road, Adel Taarabt gave QPR the lead with a fine 25-yard shot just past the half-hour, but a foul by Matt Connolly on Dean Marney allowed Graham Alexander to equalise from the penalty spot on half-time. It was the first goal conceded at home by a still unbeaten Rangers this season.

QPR manager Neil Warnock was unimpressed with referee Iain Williamson awarding the penalty. He said: "I don't now how he can give it from his position. He said to me my lad caught him with his foot but my lad was nowhere near him."

Gary McSheffrey's close-range header from a Richard Keogh flick-on midway through the first-half at Bramall Lane saw Coventry beat Sheffield United 1-0. The Blades hit bar and post in the first-half.

Visitors Doncaster Rovers built up a 3-1 lead at Reading, but the Royals' habit of scoring late goals prevailed, Jem Karacan, Ian Harte's 20-yardfree-kick and a Simon Church tap-in crowning their recovery to win 4-3.

Tomasz Cywka scored twice as Derby County beat Watford 4-1. The Rams' fourth consecutive home win lifted them to seventh. Liam Lawrence made one goal and scored the other as Portsmouth beat Nottingham Forest 2-1, Pompey's fourth successive win. At Portman Road, Jason Scotland turned in Carlos Edwards' cross to give Ipswich Town the lead against Millwall. Grant Leadbitter's penalty ended a run of three defeats in a 2-0 victory.

Paul Gallagher's crisp 12-yard strike earned Leicester City a second win under Sven-Goran Eriksson, beating Preston North End 1-0. And Leeds United's captain, Jonathan Howson, scored a hat-trick in 15 second-half minutes as they won 4-1 at Scunthorpe United.

Kevin Kilbane scored his first League goal of the season to earn Hull, without a win in six League matches, a deserved point in a 1-1 draw at Oakwell after Barnsley's Adam Hammill had scored with a stunning first-half strike.

League One

Paul Ince's first match as Notts County manager ended in defeat, 3-1 at home to rising Southampton, but leaders Brighton won 3-0 at Peterborough United to open up an eight-point lead.

League Two

Hereford United's decision to give physio Jamie Pittman the caretaker manager's job until the end of the year was vindicated as the Bulls won 5-0 at Stockport to move off the bottom. Port Vale beat Crewe 2-1 in the Staffs derby.

Europe

Real Madrid stayed a point clear of Barcelona at the top of the Spanish League as the Cristiano Ronaldo show rolled on. He scored twice in the last 10 minutes to give them a 3-1 win at Hercules. Lionel Messi and David Villa both scored twice as Barca thrashed Sevilla 5-0. In Italy, Fabio Quagliarella and Alessandro Del Piero scored to give Juventus a 2-1 win at Milan.