Norwich’s nightmare home run continued as they went down 2-0 to Hull to make it seven straight home defeats in all competitions this season.
A sixth reverse in the Championship was greeted by a chorus of boos at Carrow Road, with chants of “your’re not fit to wear the shirt” at the end.
The Canaries had dominated the first half but failed to take some good chances and were punished when Joe Gelhardt fired the visitors in front early in the second half with his sixth goal of the campaign.
Substitute Darko Gyabi wrapped the points up with a second near the end as Hull stretched their unbeaten run to six matches to move up, at least temporarily, into the play-off zone.
Joe Gelhardt celebrates after giving Hull the lead at Norwich
Norwich should have been ahead inside five minutes when the visitors failed to clear their lines, allowing Jovan Makama to sweep a low cross into the danger area. But from no more than four yards out Josh Sargent somehow managed to fire the ball high and wide.
The Canaries belied their lowly position by going on to dominate the opening period, creating a string of decent chances that they were unable to capitalise on.
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Joe Gelhardt fires Hull City ahead at Norwich with their first shot on target at Carrow Road.
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More misery for Norwich as the pressure mounts oin Liam Manning as his side go 2-0 down at home to Hull City.
The recalled Shane Duffy saw a powerful header into the ground well saved by Ivor Pandur while Ruairi McConville was narrowly off target from another Kenny McLean corner.
As the almost non-stop pressure continued the impressive Jeffrey Schlupp clipped the crossbar after good work by Oscar Schwartau, who then fired wastefully wide when the ball broke kindly for him in the box.
Hull offered little except well-organised defence, with Gelhardt’s snap-shot that sailed harmlessly over their only effort of the half.
But the visitors made their first opening of the second period count by taking the lead after 49 minutes.
Matt Crooks’ header forward fell nicely for Gelhardt who outpaced Harry Darling before slipping the ball past the advancing Vladan Kovacevic and into the back of the net.
It was a cruel setback for the hosts but they remained on the front foot and Schwartau tested Pandur with a low shot as the game entered its final quarter.
Kyle Joseph could have wrapped it up for Hull after 73 minutes when he caught Duffy in possession but he fluffed his lines with just the keeper to beat.
Norwich threw on Academy product Errol Mundle-Smith for his debut as they sought an equaliser but it didn’t arrive and the Tigers did eventually add a second after 87 minutes.
Two substitutes combined, with Gyabi firing home Cody Drameh’s cross at the second attempt, prompting loud protests for the home faithful, directed at sporting director Ben Knapper and head coach Liam Manning.
The managers
Norwich’s Liam Manning:
“That was poor of me and I apologise for that. Sometimes the disappointment gets the better of you – and I didn’t want to go out there and antagonise people – but I was wrong not to go on the pitch.
“It was the same as a number of games recently. We started brightly, with purpose and created a lot of chances – but we didn’t take them.
“In the second half we knew they would change things – they had to the way the game was going – but we don’t deal with it and they score one of the softest goals I have seen at this level.
“Then we are under pressure – and we aren’t coping very well under pressure at the moment. When you are on the ropes you have to scrap and fight.
“To have so many excellent moments in the first half and so many terrible moments in the second really is tough to take.
“Of course I am hurting, it’s not nice and I don’t like it. I know it’s unacceptable to lose the number of games we have.
“I can look at myself and say I am giving everything to turn it around but I know something has to change and there will be discussion about it”.
Hull’s Sergej Jakirovic:
“In the first half we just survived. They were much better than us and we couldn’t really do much in and out of possession.
“They had a lot of chances and we were fortunate that they didn’t take any of them.
“I knew we could not play again like that so we changed things at half-time and that gave us a lot more stability in terms of our shape.
“Then we get a goal and that gives us the confidence to go on and win the game.
“It was a great team effort in the end. We were not good in the first half but the players stuck together and showed a lot of character and fight to get a huge victory, a huge three points.”
