Norwich manager David Wagner felt his team were hitting consistent form at the perfect time as they continued their push for a Championship play-off spot with a comfortable 3-0 win away at relegation-threatened Stoke.
Josh Sargent, Gabriel Sara and Ashley Barnes all got their names on the scoresheet as the Canaries made it six wins from their last nine matches.
Victory keeps the Canaries in sixth place – the fourth and final play-off spot – but they are now three points clear of seventh-placed Hull having played a game more.
“One thing is the numbers (the scoreline), but the other thing is the performance,” Wagner said. “I think it was another very, very good performance away from home.
“The guys looked super sharp, super solid defensively, super aggressive and, with the ball, they played some wonderful football, scored great goals and had chances for more.
“They have a lot of confidence at the moment. They’re brave on the ball as well – everybody knows what he has to do and likes to do.
“Obviously, this is why I’m absolutely delighted with what I’ve seen and the shift which the players put in.”
The win comes on the back of a 5-0 home victory over Rotherham last weekend and also ends a run of four league away games without picking up all three points.
“To be fair, I think that we’re able to score (plenty of) goals. We’ve known this more or less from the beginning of the season,” Wagner added.
“But to consistently do it and to do it away from home as well, is always important at this stage of the season.
“Every win – home or away – is super, super important and the players are in good form.
“They do enjoy playing football together. They do enjoy fighting together for every inch, and trying to keep the ball out of the net. And this is exactly what they do now consistently, home or away.
“Obviously, away, there haven’t been so many wins like at home, but performance wise, I think consistently now in recent weeks or months I can say they’ve done it on a very consistent and high level.”
Defeat for Stoke, who had come into the match in confident mood on the back of two wins from their last three games, leaves them just two points clear of the relegation zone.
Manager Steven Schumacher was bitterly disappointed with his team’s display.
“At the end of the day, we lost the game because they were better than us and we weren’t good enough in too many areas of the game,” he said.
“We didn’t do what we have been doing well in the last couple of games.
“I felt we were a little bit too passive – it took us 78 minutes to make a tackle, which is not going to get you any results against a team as good as Norwich.
“We weren’t close enough, we weren’t aggressive enough and when we did have the ball, we gave it back to them a bit too cheaply as well.”
Schumacher was particularly concerned about his side’s response to going behind.
“Once we’ve conceded the first goal, we just don’t see any sort of reaction from the lads,” he added. “It’s like we freeze and everybody goes in their shell – that can’t happen.
“Even if you go a goal down you’ve got to respond and try and do something about it.”
Will Still leaves Reims job with immediate effect
Will Still has left his role as Reims head coach with immediate effect, the Ligue 1 club announced on Thursday.
Still took over as Reims boss – initially on an interim basis – after Oscar Garcia was sacked in October 2022 and went unbeaten through his first 19 league games at the helm.
The 31-year-old was eventually handed the role on a permanent basis and led Reims to an 11th-placed finish in Ligue 1 in 2022-23, with his lack of a UEFA Pro Licence causing the club to be fined €25,000 per match until he began the course.
Reims are currently 11th in Ligue 1 again, though they are winless in their last five games and have lost each of their last three.
In a statement, the club said: "Following a meeting this morning between president Jean-Pierre Caillot, general manager Mathieu Lacour and head coach Will Still, it was mutually agreed that the two parties would not continue the sporting adventure together next season.
"In order to allow Reims to confidently look forward to the next year, it was also decided that Will Still and his deputy Nicolas Still would step down from their respective functions as of today."
Still was linked with the Sunderland job earlier this season and said in February that he would be open to joining an "ambitious" Championship club.
'It's a joke' – Ten Hag slams reports of Man Utd fire sale
Erik ten Hag has angrily denied reports claiming almost every player in Manchester United's squad will be up for sale in the upcoming transfer window, describing them as "a joke".
United are officially out of the running for Champions League qualification and could yet end Ten Hag's second season at the helm out of Europe entirely, with Newcastle United and Chelsea among the teams looking to hunt down the sixth-placed Red Devils.
Big changes are expected in United's first transfer window under the stewardship of INEOS founder Jim Ratcliffe, who assumed full control of football operations when his purchase of a minority stake in the club was ratified in February.
Earlier this week, reports emerged suggesting United were entertaining offers for all but three of their players, namely Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo.
Speaking at a press conference to preview Monday's Premier League trip to Crystal Palace, Ten Hag shot down those suggestions.
"It's a joke! As long as I worked here, 200 players are apparently getting interest from Manchester United every summer, which is untrue. We did some research," Ten Hag said.
"Every summer, we sell every player in our squad, which is untrue. Be calm and take responsibility when you make up such a headline. It is total c**p."
Despite coming under fierce pressure this campaign, Ten Hag has repeatedly insisted he will remain at Old Trafford for the 2024-25 season.
He knows there is plenty to be done as the Red Devils enter a new era, saying: "There's always a lot of work, that's normal when you go into a transfer window.
"We are still below the levels of the expectations that Manchester United have, so we have to catch up.
"I am now going into my fifth window, two windows were okay, two windows we did nothing. We have to make new improvements in the summer.
"There is a base of this squad that is very good. Injuries had a big impact on our season."
Dyche still demanding 'the hard yards' from Everton despite Premier League safety
Sean Dyche claimed putting in "the hard yards" is what ultimately got Everton over the line when it came to securing their Premier League status.
Everton beat Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Brentford in the space of six days in April to ensure their place in the top flight for another season.
That is despite two separate points deductions, worth eight points overall, having been dished their way this season. Everton are set to appeal the second decision at some point in May.
Last week's 1-0 win over Brentford saw Dyche's team move 11 points clear of 18th-placed Luton Town, meaning Friday's game against the Hatters no longer has so much riding on it for the Toffees, though Dyche will not let the hard work stop.
"I took over midway through so it is a bit different to last season. You try to re-model a group that's already been modelled, which is a challenge," Dyche told reporters.
"This season I think the biggest part of the success overall has been pockets of all different reasons. It is the work, work of the team I think we have got back to.
"We may lose it so much due to good performances when we were not winning but the hard yards as I call it, just doing the graft. The organisation, the will, the thirst and desire to work, to really work.
"I feel we still have good quality players here but it has to have a base to work from. You have to have a tactical understanding, you have to work, you have to do the hard yards, you have to cover the ground.
"Stats show for 60 minutes the ball is in play, if you're a player you're probably going to have it for one minute so what are you doing for the rest of it, for the other 59 minutes? You better be working because that's what the modern game demands."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Luton Town – Ross Barkley
Barkley – who made 150 league appearances for Everton between 2011 and 2017 – has scored just one goal in 10 Premier League games against sides he has previously played for in the competition. However, that strike did come in a match at Kenilworth Road this season, a 3-2 defeat to Chelsea.
Everton – Idrissa Gueye
Gueye played a crucial role in Everton's survival, scoring in the matches against Forest and Brentford. The former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder has netted three times this season, and the Toffees will be hoping to tie him down to a new contract.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Everton are winless in nine away Premier League games (D3 L6) since beating Burnley 2-0 in December. Indeed, while five of the Toffees' first eight league wins this season came away from home, each of their last four have all been at Goodison Park.
Luton have beaten Everton twice this season, once in the league and once in the cup, with both of those 2-1 wins coming at Goodison Park.
The Hatters have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games (D3 L10), with no side picking up fewer points than the Hatters since the start of this run (six). Despite this, they have only failed to score in one of their last 23 league games, a 2-0 defeat at league leaders Arsenal last month.
This is Everton's first away match against Luton since a 1-0 win in the League Cup in October 2007, with Tim Cahill netting an extra-time winner. Their last league visit to Kenilworth Road also ended in a 1-0 victory back in November 1991 thanks to a Robert Warzycha goal.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Luton Town – 36.7%
Everton – 34.6%
Draw – 28.7%
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