Another bad day in a nightmare season for already-relegated Sheffield Wednesday ended in defeat as they were beaten by Norwich City at Carrow Road.

Having heard that the James Bord consortium had pulled out of a deal to buy the club earlier in the day, the Owls found themselves two down at the break.

Mathias Kvistgaarden and the impressive Paris Maghoma were the Norwich scorers as Philippe Clement's side dominated shot-shy opponents, the latter marking his first league start with a powerful left-foot strike.

They could not add to their tally in an often low-wattage second half but had already done enough to inflict Wednesday's 11th successive defeat and lift themselves up a place to 17th in the table, eight points clear of the drop zone.

Wednesday had experienced Dominic Iorfa back in their defence for the first time since 4 January, while Norwich made four changes in response to Saturday's home defeat by Birmingham City.

The home side made a sluggish start and suffered a setback in only the sixth minute when Australia international Mohamed Toure – scorer of five goals in four games since arriving in the transfer window - went down clutching his groin as he chased a long ball from Jack Stacey and had to go off.

Kvistgaarden was his replacement and soon fired a left-foot effort into the net from Kenny McLean's perfectly-weighted through ball, but he had started his run fractionally early and it was ruled offside.

The Dane was not to be denied, however, and after Seny Dieng kept out Ali Ahmed's point-blank effort following a good move down the right, Kvistgaarden headed the loose ball against the bar before finally nodding the rebound over the line.

If that was a scruffy finish, the second was pure quality as Maghoma created space for himself with a slick turn and beat Dieng with a low shot into the net, before curling just beyond the far post from another opportunity moments later.

Wednesday stirred themselves after the break and Jamal Lowe fed Charlie McNeill on the right of the box but a superb diving block by Kellen Fisher deflected his shot just wide of the target.

Dieng palmed away a fierce 25-yarder from Jacob Wright as Norwich resumed normal service before Clement sprang a surprise by taking off Kvistgaarden and sending on Jakov Medic, normally a centre-back, to lead the line up front.

The Croatian may not have the nimblest feet but offered a physical presence and a focal point as the Canaries looked for a third, but regular substitutions disrupted the flow and it was Wednesday who came closest when Joe Emery headed wide from a free-kick when he should have done better.

They will be at home to Southampton on Saturday, with Norwich travelling to take on Leicester City.

Norwich head coach Philippe Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk:

"We knew Sheffield Wednesday were a team that had lost a lot of games - but a lot, I think, by only one goal difference.

"We knew it was a massive game and we could not underestimate them and we had by far the most chances, most possession, two good goals, could have been more, so a lot of pleasing things.

"The team stayed focused, very professional, very well organised and that's our strength that we need to use in the coming weeks and months.

"Taking players off when they are good in the game because in a few days you have another game and they're not ready to play 90 minutes two times in a row, it's a tough job and we're working hard to make them stronger, to make them better."

Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"We're just relegated and so many fans are coming down on a long trip to Norwich, the most important thing was to make them proud.

"The boys played for the shirt and the last moment where we were all together because we want to say thank you for this amazing support - it shows why we are the club we are and can have a bright future.

"I had to focus on the game the whole day so I only heard (about the consortium) like the other employees at the club.

"I only know the administrator should have a plan B for how we can come quick to the next step so I look forward to further progress."