Norwich City vs Bristol City. Sky Bet Championship.
Carrow RoadAttendance25,287.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Norwich City and Bristol City at Carrow Road as Teemu Pukki scored twice to steer the Canaries towards victory on Wednesday night
Wednesday 14 September 2022 22:55, UK
Norwich made it six Championship wins on the spin as they saw off Bristol City 3-2 in an entertaining clash at Carrow Road.
A double from Teemu Pukki and a sixth of the season from strike partner Josh Sargent set up a hard-fought win for the hosts, who closed the gap on leaders Sheffield United to a single point.
Tommy Conway and Antoine Semenyo scored for the visitors, who battled well after falling 2-0 behind early on.
A clash of the Championship's two in-form sides got off to a bright start, with Conway firing just wide for the visitors inside the first minute after a Sam Byram pass had gone astray.
But it was the Canaries who got their noses in front after 11 minutes when Pukki capitalised on some poor defending to score his second goal of the season.
A lofted free-kick from Kenny McLean should have been dealt with by Kal Naismith, but the Robins defender missed his header and Pukki nipped in to lift the ball over the advancing Dan Bentley before nodding into an unguarded net.
There was another example of just what an excellent finisher Pukki 12 minutes later when Norwich's top scorer for the last four seasons added another beautifully taken effort.
The luckless Naismith was again at fault as his midfield pass was intercepted in the centre circle and Aaron Ramsey put Pukki away, with the Finland international running through and squeezing the ball past Bentley at the goalkeeper's near post.
It was tough on Nigel Pearson's side, who had been playing well in between the two big mistakes, but they continued to push forward and after Jay Dasilva had been denied by a last-gasp block from Max Aarons they finally got the goal they deserved a minute before the break.
Centre-back Rob Atkinson set the ball rolling with a burst from deep before slipping in Nahki Wells on the left and the striker's inch-perfect cross was headed home from close range by Conway.
Home 'keeper Tim Krul plucked a powerful header from Wells out of the air early in the second half as the Robins went looking for a leveller although clear-cut chances were at a premium at both ends in an increasingly tight encounter.
Norwich gave themselves some breathing space when they added a third in the 65th minute after winning a corner on the left. The delivery from recently introduced substitute Gabriel Sara was spot-on and the in-form Sargent was perfectly placed to nod home from the edge of the six-yard box.
Bentley produced a point-blank save to deny Pukki a hat-trick following a scramble at another corner, but it was soon game on again as the battling visitors once more reduced the arrears.
The Canaries were guilty of overplaying at the back and when Marcelino Nunez was caught in the possession the ball fell kindly for substitute Semenyo who fired home between Krul's legs to make it 3-2.
In a frantic finish, Danel Sinani was thwarted by Bentley after being put clean through while at the other end Bristol City huffed and puffed but could not find the equaliser they probably deserved.
Norwich's Dean Smith: "I am disappointed with our performance tonight but I have not lost sight of the fact that it is another three points, that is the most important thing. The lads have got a winning mentality at the moment and that's something we need to harness as we go forward. Bristol City have been in good form themselves and were the bravest side we have faced so far this season. They were prepared to go three for three with us at the back.
"Teemu (Pukki) got through twice to put us two up and I thought for the first 20-25 minutes we played well but they moved the ball around really well and for the rest of the half we didn't get close enough to the ball, we didn't get in
their faces and put in the hard yards you need to in this division. They made it difficult for us although I must say there was a definite foul on Max Aarons in the lead-up to their second goal.
"There were a lot of unforced errors out there from both teams, and there were a lot of things that the players could have done better, but hopefully they can learn from this and keep developing as a team. It was one of those games that was probably entertaining to watch - but tested the nerves of both coaches."
Bristol City's Nigel Pearson: "I certainly think we should have got something out of the game. Once again we have scored two goals away from home but this time it was not enough. I was pleased with the tenacity we showed after going 2-0 down, even though our delivery into the box was not as good as it should have been towards the end.
"But the bottom line is you can't afford to gift sides goals like we did tonight, and it's not the first time it has happened this season, but that's life. It's a disappointing result but I think we have shown enough quality against a good Norwich side to make other teams wary of us."
