Lincoln City stand on the precipice of a return to the second tier of English football for the first time in 65 years, their path to the Championship all but secured by a late, controversial winner that capped a remarkable afternoon of drama across the EFL.
Injury-Time Chaos Across the Leagues
The narrative of the day was written in stoppage time, with multiple matches turned on their head in the dying moments. At Salford City, what began as a precious late winner from Ryan Graydon in a crucial League Two promotion clash spiralled into madness. Notts County’s Luke Browne then equalised in the fifth minute of added time, only for Matt Butcher to immediately restore Salford’s lead—a whirlwind of three injury-time goals leaving spectators breathless.
Elsewhere, the stakes were just as high. Regan Poole’s equaliser for relegation-threatened Portsmouth at Carrow Road moved them out of the Championship’s bottom three, a status they snatched from Leicester City. Patson Daka’s superb 20-yard strike had briefly lifted Leicester out of the drop zone with his second of the day, only for Ben Whiteman’s header to put Preston North End back ahead just before half-time in a match that ended 2-2.
In the Championship, a tight affair between Oxford United and Hull City finished 1-1, while at The Hawthorns, West Brom and promotion rivals Wrexham played out a 2-2 thriller. Wrexham fought back from two down with a Josh Windass curler and a Lewis O’Brien flick that may have taken a deflection, before West Brom’s Arthur Okonkwo made a stunning late save to preserve a point.
Lincoln’s Controversial Leap Towards History
Amid the chaos, the most significant moment unfolded at Sincil Bank. Lincoln City’s promotion from League One, which could be mathematically confirmed on Good Friday, was pushed to the brink by a bizarre 89th-minute goal. A cross from the left struck the hand of Lincoln’s unsighted Ryler Towler; the ball looped upwards and was headed in from close range by teammate Ryan One.
The 1-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon, described as a “strange late winner,” leaves Lincoln 18 points and 24 goals ahead of third-placed Bolton Wanderers with just six games remaining. Promotion would end a wait stretching back to 1961 and trigger a transformative financial windfall for the club. EFL distributions would potentially rocket from around £2 million in League One to £11 million per season in the Championship, with plans already in motion to modernise the LNER Stadium ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.
In the same division, Millwall surged into the automatic promotion places after a 2-1 comeback win at Middlesbrough, a result that consigned Boro to a concerning four-game winless run. At the bottom, Leicester City’s perilous position is compounded by a six-point deduction for breaching financial rules, with former player Marc Albrighton offering to return to help avert a “catastrophic” drop to League One, criticising the current squad’s lack of fearlessness.
Alisson Sidelined for Liverpool’s Crucial Double Header
Away from the promotion frenzies, Liverpool manager Arne Slot confirmed a significant setback for his side’s cup ambitions. Goalkeeper Alisson Becker will miss tomorrow’s FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City and both legs of the Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Alisson was injured in the previous Champions League round against Galatasaray and, according to Slot, will be “out for a bit longer,” with a return expected only “towards the end of the season.” This compounds a difficult season for Slot, who retains the backing of the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, despite mounting pressure.
The FA Cup tie at the Etihad, refereed by Michael Oliver, sees Manchester City aiming to break a 145-year-old record for consecutive home wins in the competition. The Champions League first leg follows in Paris on April 8, with the return at Anfield on April 14. Liverpool will pursue this quest without Mohamed Salah, who has announced he will leave the club at the season’s end after nine years.
Further down the pyramid, Jermain Defoe’s first match as permanent manager of National League side Woking saw a fightback, as his team came from 3-1 down to draw with Eastleigh. And in League Two, Harry McKirdy’s double secured a 2-0 win for Crawley Town at Newport County, while leaders Bromley faced back-to-back defeats after a penalty from Barnet’s Kabongo Tshimanga at The Hive.
