Sheffield Wednesday produced a superb second-half comeback to beat Norwich 3-2 at Carrow Road and keep their outside hopes of making the Championship play-offs alive.

Trailing 2-0 at the break to well-taken goals from Borja Sainz – his first since late November – and Ante Crnac, the Owls turned the game on its head by scoring three times in 12 minutes.

Defender Michael Ihiekwe set the ball rolling on 64 minutes by heading home from a corner and Josh Windass quickly equalised before setting up a dramatic winner for Djeidi Gassama.

The Owls moved two points above the hosts as a result, with the out-of-form Canaries now looking like an extreme long shot to finish in the top six.

Norwich were rewarded for an impressive first-half display as they went into the break two goals to the good.

Having survived an early scare when Shea Charles headed a Svante Ingelsson long throw inches over the bar, the Canaries quickly got into their stride and took the lead on 16 minutes with a well-worked goal from Sainz.

The Spanish winger had a clear sight of goal when Anis Slimane flicked a Callum Doyle pass into his path and fired hard and low past James Beadle for a long overdue 17th of the season.

The hosts doubled their advantage 10 minutes before the interval with another beautifully crafted goal which featured another assist from Slimane.

This time the Dane was picked out in space by Sainz and had the vision to square for an unmarked Crnac to finish emphatically from just outside the six-yard box.

Wednesday needed to up their game after barely threatening in the first half and head coach Danny Rohl made two changes at the break, with Michael Smith and Nathaniel Chalobah coming on.

The Owls certainly had more of the ball as the second half progressed and gave themselves a lifeline when they pulled one back in the 64th minute.

A corner from the left found the head of Ihiekwe in a surprising amount of space and the defender’s effort took a big deflection to wrong-foot young keeper Vicente Reyes and trickle into the back of the net.

Wednesday now looked a different side and within 10 minutes they were level. Norwich were unable to clear their lines in a prolonged goalmouth scramble and the ball eventually fell for Windass who drilled home from eight yards out.

Remarkably the Owls then scored another in the 76th minute to turn the game completely on its head. This time Windass turned provider, getting to the byline on the right and sending over a low cross that provided Gassama with the simplest of close-range finishes.