Norwich head coach David Wagner was pleased to put a painful defeat behind him as his side recorded a comfortable 2-0 win over Birmingham at Carrow Road.
The Canaries went into the Championship clash on the back of a 6-2 drubbing at Plymouth last weekend, having also lost to Fulham with a much-changed team in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
Wagner was impressed with his side’s response to the setback with second-half goals from Gabriel Sara and Jonathan Rowe securing the points.
He said: “It is not a match I like talking about and it was good that we put it to bed.
“The Plymouth defeat showed what can happen when you lose your structure in a game – but I couldn’t be happier with the way we played today.
“We looked in control, we defended well and we created our moments. We scored two excellent goals and after that our game management was really good.
“There is no doubt we got what we deserved – there was a lot of focus out there, a lot of effort and most importantly of all we got the win.
“I think the players learned their lessons from the previous league game – there have been two good performances since then, at Fulham in the cup as well as today, and now it is time to look forward, with a busy spell of games coming up.”
The match was settled by two goals inside five minutes early in the second half.
Sara set the ball rolling for Norwich by heading home a Dimitris Giannoulis cross after 55 minutes and it was 2-0 just before the hour mark when Rowe burst through the middle and fired past the exposed John Ruddy.
Birmingham had their moments, with Jay Stansfield being denied by Angus Gunn just before the opening goal and Koji Miyoshi hitting the crossbar.
But they were second best on the day and have now gone five league games without a win after starting the campaign in impressive fashion.
“It’s frustrating because there have been some excellent performances in that spell,” said manager John Eustace.
“We didn’t deserve to lose at Watford and Preston and should have beaten QPR in our last home game.
“Today we were up against a top team, with top players, who will probably finish in the top two or three this season and that needs to be taken into account.
“We were perhaps a little too passive in the first half but we defended well and then created some good chances and could have gone ahead just before they scored.
“I was very disappointed with the way we defended for their two goals -it was so sloppy and not like us – and it was always tough after that.
“But overall it has been a solid start to the season, with just three defeats in nine games, and we now have two home games coming up which we are looking forward to.”
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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