Both of the top two suffered defeats, with Middlesbrough thrashed 3-0 by Watford and Coventry losing their unbeaten record after a 3-2 loss to Wrexham.
Stoke took full advantage with a 5-1 battering of Bristol City to close the gap on the league leaders - the Potters now sit just one point outside the automatic promotion spots.
Elsewhere, Southampton dropped to 21st after a 2-0 loss to Preston, while Sheffield United fell to a 3-1 defeat against Derby.
Major results at the top of the Championship
The weekend's fixtures saw some major shocks at the top end of the Championship, none more so than Coventry losing their unbeaten record following a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Wrexham.
Frank Lampard's side went into Friday's clash on a run of six wins in a row, having scored 19 goals in that time.
Their attack was still firing against Wrexham, with Ephron Mason-Clarke and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto finding the net - but their defence was powerless against opposition duo Josh Windass and Kieffer Moore.
The pair combined for all three of their goals, with Moore netting a hat-trick and Windass providing the assist each time.
Promotion rivals Middlesbrough failed to capitalise on a rare slip from Coventry, though, after losing 3-0 away at Watford.
Imran Louza continued his excellent form with another goal before Luca Kjerrumgaard's brace sealed victory for the Hornets.
Defeat for both of the top two allowed several chasing teams to close the gap, with Stoke taking advantage in style following a 5-1 win over Bristol City.
Million Manhoef and Junior Tchamadeu got on the scoresheet for the Potters but the real star of the show was hat-trick hero Divin Mubama.
Such a commanding victory saw Stoke climb to third in the table, just one point outside the top two.
With just three points separating second and seventh, a proper promotion battle appears to be taking shape.
Birmingham back on track
One side expected to be in the mix for that promotion battle was Birmingham, although the Blues have so far faced an inconsistent time back in the Championship.
Despite being a newly promoted club, Birmingham spent big over the summer and possess a squad full of top-level talent for the second tier.
Their attacking unit features Demarai Gray, Patrick Roberts, Jay Stansfield and Kyogo Furuhashi, to name a few.
The obvious quality in their squad has struggled to shine so far this season, but the Blues got back on track with a 4-0 thrashing of Portsmouth over the weekend.
Goals from Paik Seung-Ho, Tomoki Iwata, Christoph Klarer and Keshi Anderson saw Birmingham power past a lacklustre Pompey side and move within four points of the play-offs.
With plenty of football still to play, there's no reason why Chris Davies' side can't use the win to gather some momentum for a proper top-six challenge over the winter period.
To do that, they must find more than one regular source of goals, with Stansfield (five) the only player to net more than twice in the league this season.
The abundance of talent in their midfield and forward ranks suggests that that should click into place at some point - and it will be interesting to see how high the Blues can rise once things click into place.
Morris shines against Sheffield United
Derby defeated Sheffield United 3-1 on Saturday to win their third consecutive game in the Championship.
The Rams had been struggling near the relegation zone just a few weeks ago, but a run of one loss in their last seven means they now sit comfortably in the mid-table pack - with the opportunity to push higher if their momentum can be sustained.
Carlton Morris stole the show at Bramall Lane after netting a hat-trick to condemn the Blades to their 10th league defeat of the season so far.
The striker has been in fantastic form so far and has eight goals already, which places him joint-second in the overall scoring charts.
Morris' return to form is nice to see after struggling last season in a Luton side that was ultimately relegated, and the Englishman has proved himself to be a reliable source of goals for Derby so far.
As has often been the case for Sheffield United this term, it appears they have once again taken one step forward and two steps back.
The Blades threw away a two-goal lead against Preston last time out and were poor again at the weekend - failing to follow up on two impressive wins over Watford and Blackburn.
Chris Wilder should still have little trouble guiding them away from the relegation zone, but the entire campaign has been disastrous for United thus far.
Brannagan on form for Oxford
Cameron Brannagan scored an excellent goal for Oxford in their 2-2 draw against Millwall, curling a superb first-time effort into the top corner from 20 yards out.
The strike stood out on a weekend of excellent goals, just beating out Ipswich midfielder Marcelino Nunez's free-kicks against QPR to win our Goal of the Week.
Also, without wanting to go too Stoke-heavy in our round-up, check out Tchamadeu's excellent solo effort if you can.
Mubama excels for Stoke
As mentioned earlier, Mubama netted a hat-trick in Stoke's 5-1 win over Bristol City, also providing an assist for Manoef's strike.
That performance earned him a 9.5 Flashscore player rating, the highest in the Championship over the weekend.
Therefore, Mubama is our Player of the Week! See a full Team of the Week below:
Full results:
West Brom 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday
