Norwich head coach David Wagner was critical of a section of the club’s support after watching his side recover from losing a two-goal lead to beat Watford 4-2.
Late goals from Gabriel Sara and Christian Fassnacht saw the Canaries move into the play-off places on goals scored, after enduring an uncomfortable opening to the second half.
Wagner’s decision to substitute Onel Hernandez and Josh Sargent drew chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” from some fans – and the edgy atmosphere seemed to play a part in Watford battling their way back into the game.
“We are talking about a small group but I think they should stay at home if they are going to be like that, because it clearly affected the players on the pitch. It was just unacceptable in my view,” said Wagner.
“Both Onel and Josh were struggling with injuries and that is why I took them off – I think the players who came on deserved more respect, they shouldn’t have heard booing when they came on. And I think I deserve more respect too.
“We know the target in front of us, we know the chance we have got and we need all the supporters to be behind us. Hopefully the bigger group can be louder and we don’t hear what the small group are saying.
“I thought it was a big result tonight – in the first half I thought we were outstanding.
“And after it went to 2-2 we kept playing our football and scored two more goals. I am very proud off all the players.”
Norwich opened the scoring after 20 minutes when goal-line technology ruled that Ashley Barnes’ far-post header had crossed the line before Ben Hamer clawed the ball away.
Eight minutes later the Watford keeper made another save that counted for nothing as he kept out Sargent’s penalty, awarded for a foul by Wesley Hoedt on Kenny McLean, only for the American striker to nod home the rebound.
Watford got themselves back in it just before the break when Mileta Rakovic tapped home Ken Sema’s cross from close range, and equalised in sensational fashion after 71 minutes as substitute Yaser Asprilla beat Angus Gunn with a screamer from 30 yards.
But it was Norwich who went on to take all three points. Six minutes later Barnes fed the overlapping Sara to make it 3-2 with an unerring low finish into the far corner and substitute Fassnacht quickly made the points safe with a close-range effort which took a big deflection off Ryan Porteous.
Watford boss Valerien Ismael felt his side had wasted a good opportunity to get back to winning ways.
“It is very frustrating – we are scoring goals at the moment but we are conceding too many as well and that makes it very difficult,” he said.
“After finding ourselves 2-0 down we then got ourselves back in it. From that moment I thought the momentum changed and we had a great chance to equalise just before half-time through Matheus (Martins).
“In the second half I thought we got on top and Yaser (Asprilla) equalises with an incredible shot.
“But from then on it was very disappointing – all the players on the pitch need to be 100 percent committed to helping their colleagues.
“You need to win your duels in football, that is one of the basics of the game, and we lost the control that we had.
“The players have had their say in the dressing room and all we can focus on now is going out and trying to win our next match.”
Vardy eyes 100-point season after Leicester's title win
Jamie Vardy has challenged his Leicester City team-mates to reach 100 points after sealing the Championship title with one game to spare.
The Foxes were promoted back to the Premier League without kicking a ball after Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat to QPR on Friday, but they needed to win on Monday to earn top spot.
Enzo Maresca’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Preston through Vardy’s brace and Kasey McAteer’s header, moving them to 97 points.
With one last milestone in their reach, Vardy wants to make sure they end an already successful season on a high.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We can celebrate it tonight, but now we have another target which is 100 points.
“We are over the moon. It has gone by quick but it's a graft. Not many days off, I'll tell you that.
“The lads - they've given it all. Thoroughly deserved, and I'm glad we've had 5000 to come and celebrate with us. It's not like it's 20 minutes up the road."
After a run of just three victories from nine games in the league between mid-February and April, Leicester have now won each of their last three outings.
Maresca has praised his players for their hard work in what he labelled a “tough season”.
“Fantastic, it's been a fantastic season. The Championship is a tough season and very intense, but I'm very happy," said Maresca.
"Now it's time to enjoy the work of the season to bring this special club back to the Premier League. We deserve it.
“The last two days they have been fantastic. We got promoted, but it was difficult in game preparation. But we used all of today to prepare for the game, the morning and afternoon. It was good.”
Barcelona 4-2 Valencia: Lewandowski hat-trick leads Barca to 4-2 win over 10-man Valencia
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a second-half hat-trick to help his side fight back to claim a hard-fought 4-2 win over Valencia, who were leading 2-1 when they were reduced to 10 men just before the break.
Fermin Lopez's header from a Raphinha cross put Barca in front after 22 minutes, but Valencia's Hugo Duro struck in the 27th and Pepelu scored from the spot after a foul by Ronald Araujo 11 minutes later to give the visitors the lead.
But after Valencia keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili saw red for a handball outside the box before the break, Xavi's side dominated and Lewandowski scored with two headers from corners in the 49th and 82nd minutes before getting his treble with a free-kick in added time.
The win postponed Real Madrid's almost inevitable LaLiga title celebrations for a couple of weeks as Carlo Ancelotti's side sit atop the standings on 84 points.
Barcelona moved back to second in LaLiga on Monday with 73 points as they leapfrogged surprise package Girona, who are third with 71. Those two teams will meet in a Catalonia derby on Saturday.
Data debrief
Barcelona conceded two goals in the first half of a home game for the second time this season, after also doing so against Girona in LaLiga in December 2023.
However, Lewandowski's goals have been invaluable to La Blaugrana this season as he's earned 17 points with his 16 goals in the league.
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
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