Norwich put last weekend’s humiliation at Plymouth firmly behind them with a comfortable 2-0 win over Birmingham at Carrow Road.
The Canaries were hammered 6-2 at Home Park, and had also lost their previous home game against Leicester, but two goals inside five minutes early in the second half got their Championship campaign back on track.
Gabriel Sara set the ball rolling in the 55th minute with a close-range header and the hosts gave themselves some breathing space on the hour mark with a well-taken goal from Jonathan Rowe, his sixth of the season.
For Birmingham it was a fifth league game without a win, following a bright start to the season that had seen them among the early pacesetters.
Norwich had the better of a low-key first half, although a well-drilled visiting defence was largely untroubled.
Adam Idah drilled a low shot just wide on 16 minutes before Dimitris Giannoulis was also narrowly off target after intercepting an attempted header back to his keeper from Cody Drameh.
Idah then headed a right-wing cross straight at John Ruddy while the keeper also safely gathered a snap-shot from just outside the box by Christian Fassnacht.
Birmingham seemed content to soak up the pressure and it took them nearly 40 minutes to register an effort on goal, with Jay Stansfield’s long range strike sailing well over the bar.
The Canaries were quick out of the blocks in the second half, almost forcing the ball in from a goalmouth scramble in the very first minute.
But it was the Blues who almost edged in front on 51 minutes.
Stansfield found himself with a clear sight on goal after neat through ball from Koji Miyoshi and it required an excellent stop from Angus Gunn to keep out his powerful shot.
Norwich were stung into action and finally got the goal their dominance deserved four minutes later.
The ball was fed wide to Giannoulis on the left and his cross was delivered perfectly for Sara to head home from inside the six-yard box.
That eased the nerves inside Carrow Road and it was 2-0 shortly afterwards as Birmingham carelessly lost possession in their own half and Rowe burst into the area before beating the exposed Ruddy low to his left.
Miyoshi hit the crossbar with a well-struck shot as the visitors sought a response but that was as good as it got, with Norwich seeing out the game with the minimum of fuss.
Hull City 3-3 Ipswich Town: Tigers fight back three times to deny Tractor Boys
Ipswich Town missed the chance to move into an automatic promotion spot as play-off-chasing Hull City came from behind three times in a thrilling 3-3 Championship draw at The MKM Stadium.
Ipswich knew a victory would take them second after Leeds United were surprisingly beaten 4-0 by Queens Park Rangers on Friday, and they led on three separate occasions, George Hirst opening the scoring before Omari Hutchinson produced two brilliant strikes from the edge of the area.
However, buoyed by slip-ups from rivals Norwich City and West Brom earlier on Saturday, Hull dug deep to fight back on each occasion, Ozan Tufan and Liam Delap scoring their first two equalisers.
With Liam Rosenior's men 3-2 down with just four minutes to play, substitute Noah Ohio blasted his shot in off the crossbar to punish an error from Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
The result keeps Ipswich behind second-placed Leeds on goal difference, though the Tractor Boys have a game in hand to come at Coventry City on Tuesday.
Hull, meanwhile, are two points adrift of the top six, with Norwich's goal difference advantage meaning their top-six spot is all but assured. The Tigers will, however, leapfrog West Brom if they beat Plymouth Argyle on the final day and Albion lose to Preston North End.
Data Debrief: Hutchinson's best not enough
Hutchinson was a man who deserved to be on the winning side on Saturday, giving Ryan Allsop no chance with two near-identical left-footed strikes from the right corner of the penalty area.
His goals came from an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.6, and he led all players on the pitch for shots (eight) and passes in the final third (21), also laying on three chances for his team-mates.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
Huddersfield all but relegated from Championship while League Two play-off spots decided
Huddersfield Town saw their relegation from the Championship all but confirmed after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Saturday.
The Terriers avoided a defeat that would have seen them relegated on Saturday, but even a win on the final day over promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town will not be enough unless they overcome a huge goal difference of 15 goals with Plymouth Argyle.
Birmingham remain in the other relegation place and now must beat Norwich City to stand a chance of staying up with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Blackburn Rovers also still in danger.
At the other end of the table, the Canaries dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City, leaving the door open for Hull City, who face Ipswich Town later today.
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