Ipswich Town took a huge step towards promotion to the Premier League with a 2-0 win over rivals Norwich City in the East Anglian derby.

Jaden Philogene and George Hirst scored for the Tractors Boys at Carrow Road, moving them up to second with two games in hand on third-place Millwall, who drew 0-0 with West Bromwich Albion on Friday.

Ipswich took the lead after just 11 minutes as Philogene found the bottom-right corner from the penalty spot, after a foul from Anis Ben Slimane on Jack Taylor in the box.

The visitors piled on the pressure, with Hirst seeing a header saved by Vladan Kovacevic, before Dara O'Shea and Philogene failed to test the goalkeeper.

However, Kieran McKenna's side got their second on the stroke of half-time. Jacob Greaves flicked the ball toward the back post from a long throw, and Hirst managed to sweep in with a clinical finish to give Ipswich some breathing room.

Norwich showed more impetus after the break, with Ben Slimane and Oscar Schwartau going closest, but the Canaries could not get the better of Christian Walton as their promotion hopes took a big hit.

Queens Park Rangers and Bristol City also saw their ambitions of finishing in the top six take a blow, after the two sides played out a goalless draw at Loftus Road.

Data Debrief: Unbeaten run keeps Ipswich dreaming

Ipswich were comfortable for the most part in this derby, with the Tractor Boys producing 1.97 expected goals (xG) from nine attempts to Norwich's 0.75 from 15 shots.

Hirst was a thorn in the side of Norwich throughout. The striker recorded the most shots (four) and touches in the box (four), while also winning three of his four aerial duels.

Ipswich are now unbeaten in their last nine games in the Championship; their last longer unbeaten streak was a run of 12 matches between September and November 2023.