Hull kept alive their faint chances of reaching the Sky Bet Championship play-offs with a 3-0 win over QPR, who remain in deep relegation trouble.
Ozan Tufan’s wonderful solo effort from 20 yards and Fabio Carvalho’s cool one-on-one finish put the Tigers in control at the break.
Jaden Philogene then put the seal on a dominating home performance with a sweet half-volley after 52 minutes.
Hull, who were claiming just an eighth home victory of the season, are six points adrift of sixth-place Norwich – but with a game in hand.
QPR also have work to do, but for far differing reasons as they are now two points clear of the relegation zone.
With just one away league defeat since December 29, it was unsurprising that Marti Cifuentes’ men were quickly into the stride against a Hull side who have this season been hamstrung by their form at the MKM Stadium.
The visitors’ early vigour was, however, soon curtained when Tufan scored after eight minutes.
The Turkey international was firstly given too much space by Jimmy Dunne near the left-hand corner of the penalty area.
Dunne also seemed complacent to the danger when Tufan cut inside before striking fiercely with his right boot.
The ball screwed over the head of Asmir Begovic, battered the underside of the crossbar and landed into the top-right corner of the net.
QPR looked shell-shocked and never recovered.
And they might have gone further behind soon afterwards had Philogene and Carvalho not been guilty of poor decision-making in good areas.
Carvalho, though, impressively made amends after 27 minutes with a lovely second goal.
Tufan again played a key role with a cute first-time pass around the corner that outfoxed centre-backs Steve Cook and Jake Clarke-Salter.
Carvalho controlled beautifully and never looked like missing from the edge of the penalty box once Begovic came rushing too far off his line.
QPR brought on Reggie Cannon and Paul Smyth at the break, and the double substitution nearly yielded immediate dividends when the latter somehow headed wide Illias Chair’s cross from close range.
But Rangers’ slim hopes of getting back into the game sailed into the River Humber when Philogene scored another excellent goal once Tufan’s free-kick was partially headed clear by Sam Field.
The former Aston Villa winger, 10 yards out toward the left of box, showed laudable composure to cushion a textbook half-volley into the right of the goal.
QPR might have added a consolation soon afterwards when Jacob Graves cleared off Hull’s line after Chair waltzed past two defends and goalkeeper Ryan Allsop.
Yet that was as good as it got for Rangers, who will need to improve markedly to avoid a nervous end to the season.
Hull, who nearly scored a fourth when substitute Liam Delap’s 76th-minute lob was headed off the line by Cannon, could also be set for a dramatic finish to the campaign on this evidence.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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