Norwich head coach David Wagner was delighted with his side’s hard-fought 1-0 win over QPR – despite admitting it had been a below-par attacking performance from his side.
The Canaries made it back-to-back wins in the Championship after a poor run that had seen Wagner’s position called into question, with Hwang Ui-jo’s 21st-minute goal settling a scrappy encounter.
That proved to be the hosts’ only effort on target but the boss wasn’t complaining afterwards.
“I think a 1-0 win like that is perhaps the best sort of win for me in the circumstances,” said Wagner.
“Everyone knows we can score goals – the stats tell you that – but we have been conceding too many goals and to keep a clean sheet was very pleasing.
“We were very organised defensively, kept them as far away from our goal as possible, and didn’t give them many chances.
“The guys out there all did their job because as a team we need to be more solid than we have been.
“Was it our most entertaining game offensively? No, but you can’t always score two or three goals to win a game and that is back-to-back wins now, which feels good, certainly much better than it did a few weeks ago.”
Wagner was full of praise for Hwang, who has been the subject of allegations regarding his personal life in his home country.
“It hasn’t been easy for him but his head is with us and he proved what a good footballer he is,” said Wagner.
“He has great technique, good work ethic and he understands the game well. He took his goal really well and gave us 70 minutes or so, which is more than I expected after his international duty.”
A scrappy game with a scarcity of goalmouth action at either end was settled by a well-taken goal from South Korean striker Hwang, who is on loan at Carrow Road from Nottingham Forest.
A pass through the middle from Gabriel Sara caught the visiting defence napping and Hwang was able to run through unopposed before beating Asmir Begovic with a powerful low shot into the bottom corner.
That was just about the only clear-cut opportunity Norwich created all afternoon while it was a similar story for the visitors, with a stoppage-time strike from Sam Field that flew narrowly wide perhaps their best moment.
QPR boss Marti Cifuentes felt his side had competed well but admitted they needed to improve in and around the opposition box.
“In the three games since I took over we have competed well and certainly haven’t been worse than any of our opponents,” he said when reflecting on start of two draws and a defeat.
“I have seen some good things in all our performances – and I have seen improvements again today.
“We were well organised and played the ball around well at times but the most important thing here is the result and I am obviously not happy with that.
“What we need is more sharpness in the final third, in and around the box. We need to be able to penetrate and score goals, otherwise all the other good things don’t count for anything.
“What I have seen here so far both during games and on the training pitch is a group of players who are committed to the cause and are working hard to turn things around – now we need to get the results to go with that.”
Sunderland go top of Championship despite late draw with Millwall
Sunderland leapfrogged Sheffield United back to the top of the Championship table after their 1-1 draw with Millwall on Saturday.
Aaron Connelly had given Sunderland the lead just 10 minutes in, benefitting from a clearance to beat Lukas Jensen on the volley and claiming his first goal for the club before the players were taken off the field for half an hour due to two medical emergencies in the crowd.
Millwall were a different side when they came back out onto the pitch, with Anthony Patterson having to pull off a string of fine saves to preserve Sunderland's lead.
The hosts eventually got a deserved goal in the 93rd minute though, as Femi Azeez stabbed home Aidomo Emakhi's cross for his first Millwall goal.
It is a fourth consecutive draw for Sunderland, who sit above Sheffield United on goal difference, while Millwall stay eighth.
Elsewhere, Middlesbrough moved back into the playoff places with a thumping 6-2 victory over Oxford United.
A hat-trick from Emmanuel Latte Lath, a double from Finn Azaz and another from substitute Tommy Conway saw Boro score six goals in an away league game for the first time in 64 years.
Greg Leigh had given the hosts a surprise lead, and though Dane Scarlett halved the deficit with his second-half goal to make it 4-2, they could not mount a comeback, leaving them 18th in the table, while Middlesbrough jumped up to fifth.
Meanwhile, Luton Town eased some of the pressure on manager Rob Edwards with their 1-0 win over struggling Hull City to move out of the drop zone.
Mark McGuiness scored the only goal of the match in the 33rd minute, brilliantly volleying his maiden Hatters goal in to help Luton move up to 16th.
Hull could not find a winner, despite Joao Pedro hitting the post in the first half, and they dropped into the relegation zone as their winless run extended to eight matches.
Norwich City are on a run of seven games without a win after playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with West Brom.
Emiliano Marcondes and an own goal from Torbjorn Heggem gave Norwich the lead after Mason Holgate's early opener, but Josh Maja's 10th goal of the campaign cancelled out their lead just before half-time to earn them a point.
Sheffield United go top of Championship with draw despite Ahmedhodzic red
Sheffield United went top of the Championship following their 2-2 draw away to Coventry City despite twice surrendering the lead.
Chris Wilder's side are one point ahead of second-placed Sunderland ahead of Saturday's other matches although, after Tyrese Campbell put them one up after 13 minutes, they would have been hoping for a bigger lead.
Coventry forward Norman Bassette equalised nine minutes later, but Jesurun Rak-Sakyi had the visitors back in front on 34 minutes, having been set up by former Coventry man Gustavo Hamer.
Then came the game-defining incident, with Anel Ahmedhodzic sent off in the 44th minute after grabbing Bassette by his neck and throwing him to the ground. Tempers flared into half-time, but it was the home side who piled on the pressure in the second half.
The managerless Sky Blues got their reward 10 minutes from time through Bobby Thomas, meaning that they have now come back from losing positions to draw in back-to-back matches. They sit 16th in the table.
Elsewhere, Burnley went third after their second straight 1-0 victory as they beat Bristol City on the road. Jaidon Anthony scored the only goal of the game, although the home side created plenty of pressure and saw a penalty claim denied in the second half.
Scott Parker's side, nevertheless, kept their fourth clean sheet in five to get themselves back in the hunt for the top two.
Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff City shared the points in a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough that does neither side many favours in their aim to climb clear of the relegation scrap.
Both goals came within two first-half minutes, with Ollie Tanner getting the visitors ahead from a Callum Robinson rebound in the 34th minute. The lead didn't last long though, with Di'Shon Bernard on hand to scramble home and restore parity almost straight away.
The result leaves Wednesday in 14th, four points above the bottom three, while Cardiff are 19th and just a point above third-bottom Luton Town.
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