Norwich head coach David Wagner heaped praise on his side’s supporters after watching his side beat Ipswich 1-0 to boost their play-off bid – and dent their neighbours’ chances of automatic promotion.

Wagner and his players felt the wrath of the fans during a poor run earlier in the season but Carrow Road was rocking in the lunchtime kick-off as the Canaries reeled off an eighth straight home win thanks to a first-half strike from Marcelino Nunez.

“The atmosphere in the ground was fantastic, the best since I have seen here, and you could see the affect it had on the players,” said Wagner.

“The fans were outstanding – and so were my team. It was a top performance and the only complaint I could make was that we should have put it to bed earlier.

“Every player put in a good shift to get the win – and to keep a clean sheet against a side who scored many goals was very pleasing.

“From where we were earlier in the season, 17th in the table, to where we are now speaks volumes about the spirit and togetherness in the squad.

“They are a group who can achieve something special, especially with the sort of backing we got today.

“But while we will all enjoy this we know there is another big game coming up on Tuesday (at Sheffield Wednesday) and that will be our focus from tomorrow.”

A game of few clear-cut chances was settled by a long range free-kick from Nunez six minutes before the break.

Sam Morsy brought down the lively Josh Sargent in a central position some 30 yards out to set up what looked like nothing more than a half chance. But the Chilean midfielder had other ideas and curled the ball around a token wall and into the back of the net via an upright.

Norwich missed a number of chances to stretch their lead on the break in the second half while Ipswich struggled to create all afternoon.

Conor Chaplin and substitute Ali Al-Hamadi both missed late second-half chances but Norwich keeper Angus Gunn was largely untroubled.

Town manager Kieran McKenna admitted his side were below their best as their long run without an East Anglian derby win continued.

“We weren’t at the level required to win the game and I don’t think Norwich were at their best either. But, to be fair to them, they found a way to win the game,” he said.

“I would certainly have liked to have seen us create more chances and be better on the ball but it was our third game in a busy week and it doesn’t always go the way you want it to.

“I know how much this one means to the supporters and all I can say is lessons were learned and we’ll be stronger for the experience. We have now got two home games coming up which is good.

“I thought we looked comfortable early on and there wasn’t much in the game and then Norwich had a spell of 20 minutes when they got a lot of free-kicks and scored from one of them.

“The decision for the challenge by Morsy looked a marginal one but the decision that annoyed me was the free-kick for (Axel) Tuanzebe’s challenge on Sargent which started it all off. That wasn’t a foul, not even marginal, and it changed the complexion of the game.”

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Man Utd Under-18s beat Liverpool 9-1 ahead of Premier League showdown
Man Utd & Liverpool's senior sides meet in Premier League action on Sunday
Under-18 setups faced off in Liverpool on Saturday
Red Devils romped to an emphatic 9-1 victory

By Tom Gott
Apr 6, 2024
A huge win for Man Utd U18s
A huge win for Man Utd U18s / Visionhaus/GettyImages
Manchester United's Under-18s beat their Liverpool counterparts 9-1 in an emphatic preview to Sunday's senior showdown.

Erik ten Hag's United will play host on Sunday to a Liverpool side that features a number of the young talents that are normally available for the Reds Under-18s, who have also lost a lot of key players to their Under-21s as well.

That upheaval in the Liverpool squad played right into United's hands as midfielder James Scanlon scored inside the opening minute, after which the tone of the game was firmly set.

Striker Ethan Wheatley netted twice before Liverpool lost midfielder Kyle Kelly to injury only 17 minutes in, and Ethan Williams netted a fourth for United seven minutes later as the winds of Storm Kathleen roared around Liverpool's Kirkby Academy.

Joe Bradshaw's delightful finish before the half-time whistle temporarily turned the tide and Liverpool looked like they could go on to grab another, but Wheatley bagged his hat-trick shortly before the hour mark which completely killed off the game.

FT: Liverpool 1-9 United U18s

A brilliant performance and result for the #MUAcademy 👏 #MUFC || #U18PL pic.twitter.com/lmTZTIGNED

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 6, 2024
There would be one more goal for Scanlon soon after, before Gabriele Biancheri netted twice and Ashton Missin sealed the momentous win in the dying embers.

It was a tough performance for Liverpool, who were without star players Amara Nallo, Trey Nyoni, Trent Kone-Doherty, Lewis Koumas and Jayden Danns, all of whom have been called up to play at higher levels this weekend.

While the nature of the result came as a surprise, United were the favourites heading into the game. They currently sit top of the Under-18 Premier League North, 13 points clear of second-placed Manchester City having played two games more.

Liverpool sit fourth in the division, 25 points adrift of the leaders.

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AC Milan extend winning run with comfortable victory over 10-man Lecce

AC Milan extended their winning Serie A run to five matches with a routine 3-0 home victory over 10-man Lecce.

Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud gave the Rossoneri control inside the first 20 minutes at San Siro, before the visitors had Nikola Krstovic dismissed just before half-time.

Rafael Leao wrapped up a comfortable success in the second half as Milan consolidated second place with seven matches of the season remaining.

It was a chastening afternoon for Lecce, whose survival hopes had been boosted by four points and two clean sheets from Luca Gotti’s first two matches in charge prior to this contest.

The visitors were the first to threaten, with Joan Gonzalez firing just wide with a low shot from the edge of the area in the third minute.

However, the hosts opened the scoring three minutes later when Pulisic received the ball from Samuel Chukwueze and found the corner of the Lecce net with a powerful left-footed shot from 20 yards.

Goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone saved a Pulisic close-range header soon after, before Leao’s 11th-minute effort was deflected wide for a corner by defender Lorenzo Venuti, following a good run by Chukwueze.

It was 2-0 in the 20th minute when Giroud’s flicked header from Yacine Adli’s corner went in at the far post.

Lameck Banda and Alexis Blin both tried their luck for Lecce – who fought back from two goals down to claim a point when the teams met in Puglia in November – before Gonzalez headed against the crossbar in the 29th minute.

However, the visitors’ hopes of an unlikely repeat were further damaged a minute before half-time when striker Krstovic was dismissed for a high boot on Chukwueze.

Lecce’s afternoon was summed up by the 57th-minute incident which saw Milan increase their lead to 3-0.

Pontus Almqvist went down in the penalty area under a strong challenge from Theo Hernandez but play was waved on and within seconds Leao had received an incisive through-ball from Adli and provided a cool finish through Falcone’s legs for a goal which was allowed to stand after a VAR check.

Hernandez struck the crossbar for Milan in the 64th minute, before Almqvist and fellow substitute Santiago Pierotti brought good saves out of Mike Maignan inside the final 15 minutes.

However, there was no further scoring and Milan were able to see out a comfortable victory – the ninth time in the last 10 meetings they have won this fixture, with the other drawn.