Hull City 2 Norwich City 1: Oli McBurnie brace fires Tigers into Championship play-offs as Wrexham falter
The story of Hull City’s 2-1 win over Norwich City on the final day of the regular Championship season
Hull City made a dramatic late surge into the Championship play-offs with a 2-1 win over Norwich City.
After a run of six games without a win, hopes of a top-six finish had been been fading at the MKM Stadium. Heading into their regular season finale, the Tigers sat seventh and needed Wrexham to stumble against Middlesbrough.
The Red Dragons did just that, drawing 2-2 and ensuring Hull’s victory was enough to keep their promotion dream alive.
It was far from straightforward in sun-soaked East Yorkshire, where Norwich took the lead through Mohamed Toure. However, a brace from Oli McBurnie set up a play-off semi-final showdown with Millwall.
First half
Tensions ran high from the first minute, with full-blooded challenges underlining the importance of the afternoon.
In the stands, phones were checked frantically and showed there had been early goals for Wrexham and Derby County. Hull’s players may not have known Wrexham were behind, but pressed with early gusto that indicated they did.
The game started scruffily with quality in short supply and loose balls repeatedly fought for. Norwich were the first to start getting their feet on the ball and Kellen Fisher drew the first save of the afternoon from Ivor Pandur.
Control of the affair was briefly relinquished by the Canaries, who started inviting Hull onto them. A loose pass from Jack Stacey almost released McBurnie in behind and the host started to sense some nerves in the Norwich backline.
However, Norwich were soon back in the driving seat and playing around a Hull side struggling to settle. Hull’s disjointed nature was eventually punished when Anis Ben Slimane scooped over the Tigers defence to find Toure, who lashed into the bottom corner on the volley.
Norwich had been ahead for barely a minute when Joe Gelhardt was chopped down in the box at the other end, giving McBurnie the chance to level from the penalty spot. Hull’s focal point made no mistake, steering home an immediate equaliser.
The Tigers came close to going ahead when a Mohamed Belloumi cross found Matt Crooks, who saw his header kept out by Vladan Kovacevic at point blank range.
It was a scare for Norwich but as the first-half came to a close, the statistics told a story of Canaries control. Philippe Clement’s men had enjoyed 69 per cent possession across a tense opening 45 minutes for the Tigers.
However, Middlesbrough had pegged Wrexham back and fans knew there was a very real opportunity for a spot in the top six to be secured.
Second half
Hull probed early after the restart and Liam Millar sent a teasing ball across the box McBurnie could not quite stretch to meet.
It did not seem to matter how many flickers of promise Hull provided, they simply could not sustain pressure and pin Norwich back. The visitors immediately went up the other end and Slimane saw a header whistle narrowly wide.
The chances kept coming thick and fast and McBurnie managed to peel away from his market to meet a Ryan Giles free-kick delivery sent in from deep. He prodded towards the bottom corner but as Hull fans jumped to their feet in anticipation of a goal, Kovacevic leapt across his line to push away.
With Wrexham only drawing against Middlesbrough and Sheffield United ahead at Derby County, the dire need for another Hull goal did not need explaining to the excitable-yet-jittery MKM Stadium faithful.
Sergej Jakirovic’s men eventually made a breakthrough when a Lewie Coyle delivery was flicked into the path of McBurnie, who had ice running through his veins as he slotted home his second of the afternoon.
Hull had to weather a storm late on but dug in against a spirited Norwich side, who found themselves unable to spoil the play-off party.