Jon Rowe and Christian Fassnacht lifted Norwich to their first win of 2024 as Hull missed a chance to move into the Sky Bet Championship play-offs.
Rowe took his tally for the season to a dozen in all competitions and underlined why several Premier League clubs are rumoured to be sniffing around him with a breathtaking individual first-half goal.
Fassnacht came off the bench to net in the 88th minute and while Tyler Morton pulled one back in added-on time, Norwich held on for the final few moments to record a 2-1 win – their first in five matches.
The Canaries now sit just one point and place behind seventh-placed Hull, who only really sprang into action in the final half hour at the MKM Stadium.
They started brightly but were met with robust resistance from Norwich, with two bruising challenges on Aaron Connolly leading to Billy Sharp being brought on within a quarter of an hour.
Borja Sainz should have done better with the first clear cut chance as he lifted over with only Hull goalkeeper Ryan Allsop to beat while Scott Twine was similarly wayward at the other end.
A moment of magic was needed to enliven a drab affair and Rowe, who has been linked with West Ham and Aston Villa in the January transfer window, provided it in the 36th minute.
After nudging Tyler Morton off the ball, Rowe jinked forwards, ghosted past a couple of opposition defenders and though space was running out and he was off-balance, the winger sent a shot with the outside of his right boot arcing past Allsop.
Norwich were perhaps fortunate to still have their full complement by then as a couple of minutes earlier, Giannoulis was only yellow carded for an apparent swing of the arm at Coyle.
Hull’s sense of injustice rose after half-time as Ozan Tufan and Twine were booked for simulation within moments of each other although the former grazed the post from just outside the area.
A sustained spell of Hull pressure followed but it still took until the 65th minute for them to test Angus Gunn, who did brilliantly to parry away Sharp’s snapshot inside the area.
Sharp’s effort from 20 yards seemed destined for the top corner but was pushed away by Gunn, which seemed decisive when Fassnacht, who replaced Rowe in the 81st minute, reacted quickest at the back post to convert with his thigh from Onel Hernandez’s teasing cross.
Morton set up a grandstand finish in the first minute of injury-time by rifling home from 25 yards as Gunn was finally beaten, but Norwich clung on.
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
Campbell gives Sheffield United victory in Steel City derby, Rodriguez strikes late for Burnley
Sheffield United joined leaders Sunderland at the top of the Championship table after a hard-fought 1-0 win against local rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
After a goalless first half, Tyrese Campbell latched onto a pass from Callum O'Hare and slotted past Wednesday goalkeeper James Beadle for the winner five minutes into the second period.
This was the Blades' sixth consecutive clean sheet at Bramall Lane and their fourth straight win home or away, and sees them go level with Sunderland on 31 points from 15 matches.
Meanwhile, Burnley are four points behind the top two after they snatched a last-gasp 1-0 victory against visitors Swansea City.
Jay Rodriguez's stoppage-time penalty secured the points for the Clarets at Turf Moor, ending their four-match winless run and climbing to fourth in the table.
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