Newcastle moved three points clear at the top of the Championship with victory at home to Ipswich as Norwich slipped up at home to Preston.
The Magpies' Ayoze Perez scored the fastest goal in the division this season, netting after just 60 seconds, and added a second in the 73rd minute to fire the Magpies to a fifth straight win. Matt Ritchie curled in as Newcastle won 3-0.
But the Canaries could not find a way past Preston at Carrow Road and Alex Baptiste's 75th-minute header secured a 1-0 win for the visitors -- their fourth victory in six games.
That meant Norwich slipped to fourth in the table as Brighton and Huddersfield clinched 1-0 wins away to Wigan and at home to Derby respectively.
Dale Stephens grabbed the only goal for Brighton with a fine strike from 25 yards midway through the second half, while Elias Kachunga headed a stoppage-time winner for Huddersfield as Derby suffered their first defeat since Steve McClaren's return.
Sheffield Wednesday are up to fifth after Gary Hooper's goal late in the first half was enough to beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0 at Hillsborough.
Bristol City are also in the play-off places thanks to substitute Aaron Wilbraham, whose deflected 88th-minute winner saw off Blackburn 1-0.
Jonathan Kodjia's 80th-minute goal secured a 1-0 win for Aston Villa at home to Fulham as their revival under Steve Bruce continued.
Kodjia's third goal in successive games inflicted Fulham's first away defeat of the season and gave Villa back-to-back wins for the first time since May 2015.
Kenny Jackett's first match as Rotherham manager ended in defeat as a late goal from Paul McShane clinched a 1-0 win for Reading at the New York Stadium.
The Royals wasted the chance to take the lead when Garath McCleary's penalty was saved by Lee Camp, but McShane ensured there was no harm done when he prodded home from close range in the 86th minute.
Neil Warnock's Cardiff revival continued as the Bluebirds moved out of the relegation places with a 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest.
The visitors struck twice before the break thanks to an Aron Gunnarsson header and a Joe Ralls header from close range.
Things got worse for Forest after the break when Thomas Lam was sent off for fouling Anthony Pilkington, although Henri Lansbury did pull a goal back with a late penalty.
Kemar Roofe grabbed his first goal for Leeds to earn a 1-0 win at Wolves, who have now gone five matches without a win, while Barnsley ended their miserable form with a surprise 2-0 win at Brentford.
The Tykes had taken just one point from their previous six matches, but Adam Armstrong put them in front in the 29th minute before Sam Winnall's second-half strike sealed the win.