Fulham go third in the Championship as Mitrovic's hat-trick sinks Swansea

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Hat-trick hero: Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic. AFP

Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a first-half hat-trick as Fulham won 3-1 at home to Swansea on Wednesday to move up to third place in English football's second-tier Championship.

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The striker's trio of well-struck finishes came as the London club ended a run of three games without a victory, with Jamie Peterson pulling a goal back for Swansea after the Welsh club had fallen 2-0 behind.

But that was as close as the visitors got as they suffered their first defeat in five league games.

"For Mitro (Mitrovic) to score three goals means he had a very good night," Fulham manager Marco Silva told the BBC.

"But the way we put the ball for him to score - every striker in the world cannot score goals if the team doesn't produce for him.

"We did so well for him to score."

Swansea boss Russell Martin, meanwhile, praised his side by saying: "I thought we were great. I am really proud of the players - we went toe to toe with the best side in the division.

"They have a guy who is in really hot form and is one of the best strikers in the division."

September 29, 2021

Luton, meanwhile ended a run of six games without a win in spectacular style courtesy of a 5-0 thrashing of Coventry at Kenilworth Road.

It only took the home side two minutes to break the deadlock, with Elijah Adebayo scoring from the penalty spot after being brought down in the box.

Harry Cornick headed in the second, before Luke Berry made it 3-0 on the half-hour mark -- after a Coventry fan was carried out of the stands on a stretcher for medical treatment.

Adebayo scored his second goal just before the break before Cornick scored his second goal and Luton's fifth in the 58th minute.

Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest came from behind to win 3-1 at Barnsley as new head coach Steve Cooper enjoyed his first win in charge of the Midlands club.

Barnsley led through Cauley Woodrow's first-half penalty before second-half goals from Philip Zinckernagel, Brennan Johnson and Lewis Grabban sealed Forest's comeback.

Craig Forsyth's first goal in more than five years earned Derby a vital 1-0 home win against Reading.

The 32-year-old left-back's first-half header meant the Rams were still bottom of the table but moved Wayne Rooney's men to within seven points of safety after their 12-point deduction for entering administration.

Draw specialists Millwall picked up just their second league win of the season as substitute Jed Wallace scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in a 1-0 victory over Bristol City.

The Lions had drawn six of their previous nine games in the Championship but Wallace's goal was just enough to secure all three points.

Unbeaten Bournemouth were unable to return to the top of the table with a 0-0 draw at Peterborough.