BALTIMORE, Maryland April 26, 2014 - It ended today for Ipswich Town. Needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Tractor Boys instead watched as Michael Kightly scored a goal in his third consecutive match and Burnley's defense did the rest in the Claret's 1-0 victory. As more than 14,500 of the Claret's faithful roared their approval, Kightly hit the back of the nets in the 54th minute for Burnley. It was the Claret's first match since securing promotion to the Premier League for the upcoming campaign.
The win left Burnley with 92 points in 45 games. Leicester now has 99 points after their win today over Huddersfield Town. Each has one match remaining, meaning Burnley can no longer catch Leicester. That was actually true going in to today's games. Both teams have kept up a phenomenal pace since the beginning of the season. Leicester has a chance to go over 100 points with a victory in its final match. Burnley has lost only 5 times throughout the campaign, in 45 matches. No team, including Leicester, has so few losses. And the Claret have lost only once at home.
Here is a look at the Championship Standings as the league counts down the days to the end of the regular season on May 3.
1. Leicester City: 99 points, 30 wins, 9 draws, 6 losses
2. Burnley: 92 points, 26 wins, 14 draws, 5 losses
3. Derby County: 84 points, 25 wins, 9 draws, 11 losses
4. Queens Park Rangers: 77 points, 22 wins, 11 draws, 12 losses
5. Reading: 70 points, 19 points, 13 draws, 13 losses (goal differential: 14)
6. *Wigan Ath.: 70 points, 20 wins, 10 draws, 14 losses (goal differential: 13)
7. Brighton and Hove Albion: 69 points, 18 wins, 15 draws, 12 losses
8. Blackburn: 67 points, 17 wins, 16 draws, 12 losses
9. Bournemouth: 66 points, 18 wins, 12 draws, 15 losses
10. Ipswich Town: 65 points, 17 wins, 14 draws, 14 losses (goal differential: 5)
11. Nott. For.: 65 points, 16 wins, 17 draws, 12 losses (goal differential: 4)
12. Middlesboro: 61 points, 15 wins, 16 draws, 14 losses
13.*Watford: 60 points, 15 wins, 15 draws, 14 losses
14. Bolton: 58 points, 14 wins, 16 draws, 15 losses
15. Leeds: 56 points, 16 wins, 8 draws, 21 losses
16. Sheffield Wednesday: 53 points, 13 wins, 14 draws, 18 losses
17. Huddersfield Town: 50 points, 13 wins, 11 draws, 21 losses
18. Blackpool: 46 points, 11 wins, 13 draws, 21 losses
19.*Charlton: 45 points, 11 wins, 12 draws, 21 losses (goal differential: =25)
20. Millwall: 45 points, 10 wins, 15 draws, 20 losses (goal differential: =29)
21. Doncaster: 44 points, 11 wins, 11 draws, 23 losses
22.*Birmingham: 43 points, 11 wins, 10 draws, 23 losses
23. Barnsley: 39 points, 9 wins, 12 draws, 24 losses
24. Yeovil Town: 37 points, 8 wins, 13 draws, 24 losses
All teams have played 45 games, except those with an * preceding their name; those teams - Wigan Athletic, Watford, Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City - have played 44 matches. The regular season ends after next Saturday's matches, by which time each team will have played 46 games. The four teams that have two games left to play will play a game Tuesday night. Watford will play Charlton Athletic and Wigan Athletic will play Birmingham City.
Under league rules, the first and second place teams are automatically promoted tk t Leicester and Burnley will have already clinched those positions. Also, the teams that end in places 22, 23 and 24 will be relegated to League One. The teams that finish in places 3, 4, 5 and 6 will enter a single elimination tournament with the other teams finishing in those four positions. The winner of that tournament will also be promoted to the Premier League; the other three teams in the tournament will remain in the Championship League. We'll take a look at that tournament later this week and then again one week from Sunday, when we will know exactly how the teams finished.
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