Norwich warmed up for Saturday’s East Anglian derby at high-flying Ipswich by beating Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at Carrow Road to make it four wins in their last six Championship games.
An early wonder-strike on his full debut from Borja Sainz set the Canaries on their way and they responded impressively in the second half after being pegged back by Bailey Cadamarteri’s 32nd-minute header.
Ashley Barnes restored City’s lead three minutes into the second half and Jonathan Rowe’s back-post header – his ninth goal of a productive campaign – settled the issue after 72 minutes.
The win keeps Norwich on the fringes of the play-off race, while for the relegation-threatened Owls it brought an end to an encouraging run of seven points from a possible nine.
Norwich made a dream start, with Sainz firing them in front with a glorious goal after just seven minutes.
The Spanish winger left a couple of Wednesday defenders in his wake after cutting in from the left before letting fly with a rising drive from the edge of the box that flew past goalkeeper Cameron Dawson and into the roof of the net.
That magic moment set the scene for an entertaining first half, with both sides having plenty of chances.
It needed a superb save from Angus Gunn to keep out Michael Ihiekwe’s close-range header, while at the other end Barnes struck the woodwork with a powerful shot when he had the goal at his mercy.
That miss was to prove costly, with the visitors getting back on level terms three minutes later from a Will Vaulks long throw.
His delivery was nodded on by Ihiekwe and Cadamarteri was on hand at the back post to head home his second senior goal for the Owls.
Barnes missed another good opportunity before the break, lofting the ball over with just Dawson to beat, while the Wednesday stopper needed to be alert to collect a downward header from Adam Idah deep into stoppage time.
Norwich were quick out of the blocks in the second half as well, regaining the lead in the 48th minute as Barnes finally found the target.
An incisive pass from Gabriel Sara found Sainz in space on the left and this time the Spaniard sent in a perfect low cross for the former Burnley striker to slide home from close range.
Callum Patterson fired into the side-netting as the visitors sought an immediate response, but Norwich were largely untroubled and made it 3-1 with 18 minutes remaining.
A left-wing cross to the back post from Dimi Giannoulis was completely misjudged by the visitors’ defence, allowing an unmarked Rowe the straightforward task of nodding home from a few yards.
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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