Burnley top Championship after going 29 league matches unbeaten

Burnley stepped up their bid for promotion to the Premier League with a 2-1 win against Norwich to send them back to the top of the Championship on Friday.

Scott Parker's side extended their unbeaten league run to 29 matches thanks to first-half goals from Hannibal Mejbri and Jaidon Anthony at Turf Moor.

Norwich were much improved in the second half and substitute Jack Stacey pulled one back.

But the Clarets stood firm to move three points clear of second-placed Leeds in the battle for automatic promotion via a top-two finish.

Leeds will regain pole position if they win their game in hand against Preston at Elland Road on Saturday, while third-placed Sheffield United - five points behind Burnley - travel to bottom-of-the-table Plymouth.

Burnley, relegated from the top flight last season, are unbeaten in their last 21 home league games and Norwich were unable to end that impressive streak.

Parker's men dominated possession and their patient probing paid off when Mejbri struck in the 14th minute.

The Tunisia midfielder darted on to Josh Cullen's inch-perfect free-kick into the penalty area and kept his composure to steer a low finish beyond Angus Gunn for his first goal for the club.

Burnley doubled the lead when Anthony's shot from outside the area struck Norwich captain Shane Duffy on the back and wrong-footed Gunn in the 24th minute.

Stacey, a 67th-minute replacement for Emiliano Marcondes, hauled the Canaries back in it in the 76th minute.

Kenny McLean headed a corner goalwards and Stacey was first to react, turning the ball home from close range for only the sixth goal conceded by James Trafford on home soil this season.