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Borja Sainz took his tally to 15 goals in 19 Norwich City appearances this season Borja Sainz's hat-trick saw Norwich City end their seven-game winless run and inflict a record loss on Plymouth Argyle boss Wayne Rooney as they won 6-1 at Carrow Road. Sainz gave the hosts the perfect start as he scored inside the opening two minutes and Norwich could have been 5-0 up inside the first 15 minutes as they dominated the game before the Spaniard calmly made it 2-0. Mustapha Bundu gave the visitors hope as he pulled a goal back against the run of play shortly before half-time. Shane Duffy restored the two-goal lead with a header soon after the restart before Sainz superbly curled in his third from the corner of the 18-yard box. The rout was completed when Norwich scored twice in two minutes towards the end - Anis Slimane blasted in from the edge of the box before Ante Crnac took advantage of a defensive slip. The win sees Norwich move up to ninth place in the Championship, five points off the play-off places. Argyle - whose previous worst loss under Rooney was a 5-0 defeat with 10 men at Cardiff City last month - drop to 20th position, two points away from the relegation zone. Injury-hit Argyle suffered a further blow when top scorer Morgan Whittaker was ruled out with a toe injury to add to the long-term absences of captain Joe Edwards, goalkeeper Connor Hazard and forwards Muhamed Tijani and Ibrahim Cissoko. Norwich - who had not won since 5 October - started superbly as Sainz fired in from eight yards after Crnac and Emiliano Marcondes had exchanged passes on the edge of the area - Sainz looked offside as the ball was played forward but replays showed it was Argyle left-back Matthew Sorinola who played the ball into his path. Four minutes later Shane Duffy managed to side-foot a flicked-on corner over the Argyle bar from two yards out, while Sainz twice saw efforts go over after taking advantage of Argyle mistakes while Crnac had a low cross-shot strike the base of the Argyle post. Rooney - who has yet to guide Plymouth to an away win all season - cut a forlorn figure in the dugout as his side gave the ball away under the pressure of Norwich's press. Crnac should have doubled the lead after 15 minutes but his unmarked downwards header was superbly kept out by Dan Grimshaw, although Canaries fans only had to wait two more minutes for their second having had more than 80% possession in the first quarter of the game It came when Marcondes' precision through-ball from midfield set Sainz away and the Spaniard calmly slotted home after beating Kornel Szucs for pace. Wayne Rooney has seen his Plymouth Argyle side draw two and lose seven of their nine away games in the Championship this season Rooney finally had something to excite him when Adam Randell saw a deflected long-range shot fly wide after 31 minutes, but it could have been 3-0 soon after when Marcondes saw a low shot deflected wide after good work by Sainz. Yet despite Norwich's dominance Argyle went into the break just a goal behind - Szucs won the ball high and Andre Gray's first-time pass found Bundu who blasted in right-footed from just inside the penalty area. Argyle started the second half promisingly until they conceded a 51st-minute corner where Duffy shook off his marker Szucs and rose highest to glance in his second goal of the season. Andre Gray saw two efforts saved by Angus Gunn either side of Sainz making a hash of a chance when Grimshaw had given the ball away as Argyle tried to step up the pressure. But Sainz - the Championship's leading goalscorer - ensured there would be no comeback as he curled in right-footed from the left corner of the box after Jack Stacey had broken from midfield. Stacey set up the fifth as his cross was met by a controlled low left-footed strike into the bottom corner from Slimane before the rout was completed when Crnac pounced on Julio Pleguezuelo's slip and thundered an effort past Grimshaw at his near post. Norwich City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup told BBC Radio Norfolk: "I think some of the bits out there today was top. "I'm pleased with the start, because we talked so much about getting the crowd going and lifting the stadium from the beginning of a match. "We could have scored a lot, so that first 20 or 25 minutes was really good, and then we also highlighted at half time that the last 20 minutes of the first half was too slow. "I'm really not happy about the goal because that's simply too stupid and something that can actually change the moment of a match. "But I think we responded well and most of the second half was good for us. " Plymouth Argyle head coach Wayne Rooney: “We were nowhere near good enough – we are down to the bare bones with injuries but that is no excuse. " “We were fortunate to be only 2-1 down at half-time. You then hope for a reaction in the second half but once they made it 3-1 I thought we went under, which is very disappointing. The players just didn’t look like they thought they could get back in it. “We need to be a lot better than that – the next 24-48 hours are not going to be very nice for the players. “I have praised them a lot this season for their performances at home – but away needs to much better than this and we have got to get to the bottom of why it keeps happening – it can’t carry on like this. “I just feel sorry for the fans who have come all this way – they will be not be pleased with what they have seen tonight. ” Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 26th November 2024 at 21: 51 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Johannes Thorup Formation: 4 - 3 - 3 Manager: Wayne Rooney Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 Manager: Johannes Thorup Formation: 4 - 3 - 3 Manager: Wayne Rooney Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Norwich have won four of their last five league games against Plymouth, though their other game was a 6-2 defeat in September 2023. Plymouth Argyle have lost 15 of their last 20 away league matches against Norwich City (W2 D3), losing each of the last three. Norwich lost their last home league game against Bristol City (0-2) and could lose successive such games for the first time since November 2023. Plymouth are winless in their last 10 away league games (D2 L8), though one of those two draws came in their last such game against Derby (1-1). Plymouth’s Morgan Whittaker has scored more goals against Norwich than any other side in the Football League (4), all of which came last season (3 in September, 1 in March). Match ends, Norwich City 6, Plymouth Argyle 1. Second Half ends, Norwich City 6, Plymouth Argyle 1. Foul by Ashley Barnes (Norwich City). Caleb Roberts (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt missed. Adam Forshaw (Plymouth Argyle) right footed shot from long range on the left is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Adam Randell. Delay over. They are ready to continue. Delay in match (Norwich City). Corner, Plymouth Argyle. Conceded by Ashley Barnes. Foul by Shane Duffy (Norwich City). Michael Obafemi (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Attempt missed. Adam Forshaw (Plymouth Argyle) right footed shot from more than 35 yards misses to the left. Fourth official has announced 5 minutes of added time. Attempt missed. Frederick Issaka (Plymouth Argyle) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Substitution, Norwich City. Brad Hills replaces Ben Chrisene. Substitution, Norwich City. Ashley Barnes replaces Borja Sainz. Goal! Norwich City 6, Plymouth Argyle 1. Ante Crnac (Norwich City) left footed shot from the left side of the box to the centre of the goal. Attempt blocked. Rami Al Hajj (Plymouth Argyle) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Adam Forshaw. Substitution, Plymouth Argyle. Caleb Roberts replaces Andre Gray. Goal! Norwich City 5, Plymouth Argyle 1. Anis Ben Slimane (Norwich City) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Jack Stacey. Offside, Norwich City. Ante Crnac is caught offside. © 2024 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.