Norwich missed the chance to cut the gap on the top six after drawing 1-1 at Blackburn.
The Canaries started well and their early possession was rewarded in superb style when Marcelino Nunez curled his first goal of the season into the top corner midway through the first half.
Both sides had chances, though, with Sam Gallagher denied three times in the first half by Angus Gunn, and they were eventually rewarded through Dominic Hyam’s towering header after the break.
A point was a fair outcome for both sides as neither managed to create a clear-cut chance after the equaliser which means Norwich remain three points outside the play-offs after extending their unbeaten run to five.
Blackburn are still looking for their first win under John Eustace but even though they are winless in four, they have not lost in their last three.
The Canaries certainly enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the early exchanges, but it was Blackburn who had the first real opening when Harry Pickering’s 19th-minute corner found Gallagher, whose downward header was parried away brilliantly by Gunn.
That save proved crucial as Norwich hit the front in spectacular fashion three minutes later when Nunez bent a 20-yard free-kick into the top-left corner.
David Wagner’s men almost doubled their lead two minutes later when Gabriel Sara slipped Josh Sargent in on goal but goalkeeper Aynsley Pears was out quickly to smother his low effort.
Gallagher had another chance on the half hour when he latched onto a ball down the left but he took one touch too many and Gunn was able to spread himself to block from a tight angle.
Gunn made it a hat-trick of saves from Gallagher when he palmed his far-post header away after the striker met John Buckley’s searching cross.
The interval came at a good time for the visitors and they almost regrouped to devastating effect when Christian Fassnacht sprung Blackburn’s offside trap but Pears’ outstretched leg diverted the ball to safety just as the Swiss winger was set to take the ball around him.
For the second time in the game, superb goalkeeping proved crucial as Rovers levelled in the 56th minute. Pickering’s deep corner was met by Hyam who rose above three Norwich players to head home from six yards.
At that stage a grandstand finish felt like it was on the cards but surprisingly it failed to materialise.
Canaries substitute Onel Hernandez looked the most likely provider as he first sent in a cross that Ashley Barnes directed well wide, before more trickery saw him centre for Sargent who was just ahead of the pass.
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final
Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.
The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.
The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.
In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.
With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.
Data Debrief: Hitting the mark
Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.
But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.
Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).
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.
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