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.”
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons
Ethan Ampadu said Leeds United's players never let their belief waver despite a poor end to their Championship campaign, with a trip to Wembley now coming up.
Leeds will face either Southampton or West Brom in the play-off final on May 26 after thrashing Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday.
The Whites endured a miserable end to their campaign, losing 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers before going down at home to Southampton on the final day, as Ipswich Town claimed automatic promotion behind Leicester City.
But after their emphatic defeat of the Canaries, who they drew with 0-0 in the first leg, Ampadu claimed Leeds never lost their way.
"Towards the end of the season there was a lot of talk about how we were playing, how we weren't on the front foot, how we weren't aggressive or clinical," he told Sky Sports.
"But we always had our belief that on our day, when we are firing, we can be hard for anyone to play against.
"When the front four, five, six play like that, they make the job of us defenders a lot easier.
"Whoever we play in the final it's going to be a hard game but to go in like this, to put in a performance like this, we can take momentum and confidence into it.
"The fans were second to none and we enjoyed their support – now we are going to prepare for the big one."
Georginio Rutter scored one and set up another in the rout, and he put the onus on Leeds to replicate the same level at Wembley.
"It's incredible. Today we go to Wembley," he said.
"We played a good game. I'm happy, everybody is happy. One more game and we will see.
"We played very good. 4-0 is a clean sheet. Today, we were mature. It's a very good performance from the team.
"I want to try my best and help the team. If we play like this [at the final], we have a good chance but we have to play like this."
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