Watford climbed to the top of the Championship after a dramatic injury-time setback for Bournemouth.
The 10-man Cherries were on course to return to the summit after goals from Yann Kermorgant and Matt Ritchie put them 2-1 up against Sheffield Wednesday, despite the sending off of Simon Francis.
But the visitors were awarded a spot-kick five minutes into stoppage time and Chris Maguire made no mistake to snatch a 2-2 draw.
That meant Watford leapfrogged Middlesbrough and the Cherries to climb into pole position thanks to a stunning goal by Craig Cathcart in a 1-0 win against Birmingham.
The Hornets were making hard work of it until defender Cathcart came up with an overhead kick to convert Ikechi Anya's cross midway through the second half.
Derby's automatic promotion hopes are over after a 4-4 draw at Huddersfield, with Rams winger Tom Ince hitting the first and last goals of a see-saw encounter.
Oscar Gobern, Mark Hudson and Reece James put Town 3-1 up after Ince's opener but Simon Dawkins and Jesse Lingard restored parity. Nahki Wells netted for the hosts, but Ince had the final say.
In the lunchtime kick-off, Wolves striker Benik Afobe hit his 31st goal of the season to salvage a 1-1 draw against play-off rivals Ipswich at Molineux.
Afobe pounced after 50 minutes to cancel out a 21st-minute own-goal from Richard Stearman.
Brentford's play-off hopes were dented after they twice lost the lead to draw 2-2 with Bolton.
Alex Pritchard and Jonathan Douglas were on target for the Bees, but they were pegged back by goals from Adam Le Fondre and Mark Davies.
At the other end of the table, Wigan live to fight another day after beating Brighton 2-1.
Tim Chow marked his first start of the season with the opening goal for the Latics before Dale Stephens equalised. Anything but a victory would have sent Wigan down, but James Perch bundled in a late winner to keep their slim survival hopes alive.
Millwall missed the chance to pile the pressure on fourth-bottom Rotherham after a goalless draw at Cardiff left them four points adrift of safety with three games to play.
Fulham all but secured their survival, nine points clear of the Lions, after Matt Smith's goal condemned already-relegated Blackpool to a 1-0 defeat.
Elsewhere, Rudy Gestade hit a hat-trick as Blackburn drew 3-3 with Nottingham Forest, while Tony Watt and Yoni Buyens scored in Charlton's 2-1 win over Leeds.