BBC NEWS: Norwich City 4 Hull City 0: Tigers suffer crushing loss at Carrow Road.
Norwich City continued their stunning rise up the Championship table with a 4-0 thrashing of a struggling Hull City team at Carrow Road.
The Tigers came into the game with three straight victories, but they were no match for a dominant home team that scored twice in each half to make it four wins in six games.
Norwich took control after scoring two early goals in short succession through Marcelino Nunez and Josh Sargent, thanks to some terribly bad defending.
They could then afford Sargent’s missed penalty before securing a comfortable win with Kaide Gordon’s first goal since joining on loan from Liverpool, and Borja Sainz’s ninth of the season.
Norwich were shortly in full swing, squandering two golden chances to go up before scoring twice in five minutes to take command.
After the visiting defence was carved open in the middle, Sainz and Nunez were both left with only the keeper to beat, but Ivor Pandur came to their rescue with great stops on both occasions.
However, the Croatian could not stop Norwich from grabbing a well-deserved lead in the 16th minute.
Sainz was given too much time and space on the left and cut inside before passing the ball to Nunez, who took aim and shot home from a few yards outside the box.
Norwich immediately made it 2-0, with Sainz again giving an assist. This time, after bursting free, he fired over a low cross that Sargent stabbed home for his fourth goal of the season.
Despite being under siege for much of the first quarter, Hull had opportunities to come back into the game. Mohamed Belloumi took too long to shoot after being given a clean sight of goal, and Chris Bedia headed wide shortly after.
Norwich had a new goalkeeper for the second half in George Long, who replaced the injured Angus Gunn, and he was forced into action early to stop a ferocious effort from the lively Belloumi.
The hosts were still looking the superior side, though, and missed a golden opportunity to put the Tigers out of sight on 55 minutes.
They were granted a penalty when Lewie Coyle handled in the area following further poor defensive play by the visitors, but Sargent was unable to double his score from the spot, his shot rebounding against the upright before being cleared.
The mistake definitely boosted Hull, with Belloumi striking the bar with a long-range free-kick, but more dreadful defending gifted Norwich a third on 66 minutes.
The visitors had plenty of time to clear after Sargent was crowded out in the area following a rapid burst, but they failed to do so, leaving replacement Gordon with the simple chore of rolling the ball home.
After Hull newcomer Joao Pedro’s shot was ruled out for handball, Sainz made it 4-0 on 78 minutes by coolly lobbing Pandur as the keeper found himself in no man’s land following a rapid pass forward.
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