Hull City 1 Norwich City 2: Tigers are pussy cats again as Canaries take the spoils

If you like entertaining football, get yourself down to East Yorkshire. Liam Rosenior's side play an entertaining brand that had the stands pretty full for a televised Friday-night game at home to Norwich City.

If you are all about winning football, maybe give them a swerve.

Hull ought to be back in the Championship play-off places tonight but for the sixth time in nine league matches, they lost – this time 2-1 to a Canaries side having enough of a bad time that there were a handful supporters chanting for David Wagner's head when the score was 0-0 but had two shots on target in regulation time and buried them both.

That the Tigers finally found the net in stoppage time with a Tyler Morton cracker from distance only added to the frustration – particularly for those disgruntled fans who would have heard the cheers on their way to the car.

The excuses were there for Hull in the shape of referee Andrew Kitchen's leniency to some first-half rough-housing from visitors not traditionally associated with that.

But football helps those who help themselves and too often Hull do not. Not for the first time a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal and a weakness defensively cost them three more points.

Hull started brightly led by debutant Fabio Carvalho, a mixture of hard work and party tricks who had got the fans onside before he even kicked his first ball for the club.

You could hear the excitement when he did, his shot blocked. But he quickly won it back, to another cheer.

He seemed to have an instant understanding with Ozan Tufan, the right of three "No 10s" in the three-quarter line behind Aaron Connolly. Two minutes in the Turkish playmaker had a shot blocked after being played in by Carvalho.

Scott Twine, on the left, had a shot deflected for a corner.

At that stage it looked like Hull were going to put on a real show for a 24,103 crowd with a refreshingly low average age.

But 12 minutes in, having already gone down injured twice and been treated once, Connolly was poleaxed by Angus Gunn, rushing out of his area to jump into him. Not only did the goalkeeper somehow escape a card, he somehow got a free-kick.

It set the tone for a head-scratcher of a performance from Kitchen and, as Connolly limped off, finally accepting defeat, took a lot of the wind out of Hull's sails, as well as their striker.

The game hit a bit of a lull until the half-hour mark, when a good ball from Matty Jacob, rewarded for a good full debut in the FA Cup with a first Championship start, picked out Tufan, in off his line. The ball was worked to Twine who set his shot beyond the far post without getting the curl he was looking for.

Tufan was denied a free-kick after robbing his man but perhaps going down too easily when Kenny McLean, already on a booking, dangled a leg. He would later be booked for diving to try to win a 50th-minute penalty, quickly followed by Regan Slater for the same offence in midfield.

Dimitrios Giannoulis was fortunate only to be yellow-carded for clattering Lewie Coyle seconds after McClean's challenge.

If only Hull had not been so timid minutes later, Jonathan Rowe picking the ball up in the D and taking it to the edge of the area without enough pressure from Tufan before finding the net with a lovely outside-of-the-boot finish.

"One-nil to the referee!" sang the disgruntled home fans.

Hull finished the half strongly without finding an equaliser, Carvalho wide from a tight angle, Twine's cross cut out after an excellent Jacob pass and a week Carvalho cross coming to nothing after the ball was worked from right to left by Tyler Morton, Tufan, then Twine.

For all the promise, they failed to have a shot on target until Billy Sharp forced a 65th-minute save.

By then they had a burning sense of injustice fueled by Gunn, Giannoulis – perhaps substituted for his own protection – and the bookings for diving, but not enough control.

When Ryan Allsop saved from Josh Sargent in the 55th minute, the ball quickly went down the other end and just wide of goal from the boot of Tufan to pump the crowd up another notch.

Carvalho dragged a shot wide when he received the sort of Tyler Morton backheel he had been playing. Slater was tackled as he threatened to shoot and when his next shot was saved, Sharp at last got the ball between the post, just not through them.

Whilst others faffed and flicked it was Sharp and his carpool buddy Slater who made Gunn earn his wages.

A near-post save from Sharp in the 78th minute and even better wrong-handed tip-over from Slater three minutes later did that with the latest of his efforts from around the box.

Norwich put the tin lid on it after 88 minutes minutes, Onel Hernandez crossing and his fellow substitute Christian Fassnacht thinking quicker than the defenders to get behind them and touch in at the far post, prompting an understandable exit.

Morton teased them with a goal in the second added minute but that is what the Tigers do too often right now. Allsop had to make a good save with his foot to stop Adam Idah scoring a minute later.

There will inevitably and rightly be calls for Rosenior, without Liam Delap for the next two to three months, to go out and buy another striker but they need to be sharper at all the aspects which decide football matches because the rest is rather good but it counts for nothing without the end bit.

Hull City: Ingram; Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Jacob (Vaughan 84); Morton, Slater; Tufan, Carvalho, Twine (Lokilo 63); Connolly (Sharp 14).

Unused substitutes: Ingram, McLoughlin, Docherty, Furlong, Smith, Sellars-Fleming.

Norwich City: Gunn; Stacey, Duffy, McLean, Giannoulis (McCallum HT); Nunez (Gibson 60), Gomes; Sargent (Idah 60), Rowe (Fassnacht 82), Sainz (Hernandez 84); Barnes.

Unused substitutes: Gibbs, Long, Batth, Fisher.

Referee: A Kitchen (Durham).