Norwich City 1-2 Burnley: Scott Parker's side reclaim third place in Championship with comeback win

Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Norwich City and Burnley at Carrow Road on Sunday; Jose Cordoba scored the Canaries' opener inside 64 seconds; Zian Flemming and Josh Brownhill replied in the second half for a Clarets victory

Sunday 15 December 2024 18:40, UK

Burnley recovered from the shock of conceding a goal after just 64 seconds to reclaim third place in the Championship by beating Norwich with a 2-1 comeback victory at Carrow Road.

Norwich defender Jose Cordoba headed home his first goal in English football to give his side a dream start, but the visitors hit back in impressive fashion after the break to take home maximum points.

Substitute Zian Flemming's brilliant long-range strike levelled it for the Clarets midway through the second period and another emphatic finish from Josh Brownhill settled the issue eight minutes later.

Norwich got their noses in front early after their opponents had conceded a cheap corner while attempting to play out from the back.

Marcelino Nunez's delivery was spot on and Cordoba took advantage of the space that was afforded to him to head powerfully past James Trafford.

The visiting goalkeeper then had to race back towards his goal to prevent a wayward CJ Egan-Riley backpass from making it 2-0 as the Canaries had the better of the opening exchanges.

Trafford was also called into action to keep out a powerful drive from Borja Sainz after a poor touch from Bashir Humphreys had presented Norwich's top scorer with a clear sight of goal.

Burnley got back into it as the half progressed but rarely troubled Angus Gunn, who comfortably gathered long-range efforts from Jeremy Sarmiento and Brownhill.

The Clarets started the second period strongly, with substitute Josh Laurent being foiled by a good block from Callum Doyle, and Luca Koleosho testing Gunn with a powerful low drive.

Norwich appeared happy to protect their early lead, although they nearly doubled their advantage on the hour mark when Doyle's header and a follow-up from Sainz brought the best out of Trafford.

It was the visitors who were in the ascendancy however and they got back on level terms after 68 minutes with a spectacular goal from substitute Flemming.

A free-kick midway inside the Norwich half was tapped to Flemming who, realising he had space to run into, took several purposeful steps forward before finding the top corner from all of 35 yards.

The Clarets were ahead eight minutes later following another sharp finish from inside the box. This time a loose header from young Kellen Fisher fell nicely for Brownhill, who cracked the ball home from a narrow angle to turn the game on its head.

Norwich carved out an excellent chance to equalise deep into injury time but Emiliano Marcondes fired wide from just outside the six-yard box.

The managers

Norwich's Johannes Hoff Thorup:

"I was very pleased with the first half - there were many good things, the chances we created, the way we defended against a very good side. The only disappointing thing was that we didn't get a second goal.

"Then a couple of guys switch off at a free-kick. It was a fantastic goal but you should never turn your back on the ball like that.

"I am not happy with the second goal either. We are on the attack, looking to create a big chance and then we lose the ball and don't defend well enough after that.

"There were still some positives to take from the game but this shows that we have to be at our maximum to take something from games like this.

"We are not one of the top teams in the league - we need another 10-15 per cent on a regular basis to be that - and that is something we are working hard to achieve."

Burnley's Scott Parker:

"We started the game very slowly and weren't nearly good enough in the first half and I made that clear to the players at half-time.

"We didn't engage in the game enough, we didn't give ourselves a platform to get into it.

"I told them what we needed to do differently and to a man they did exactly what was asked of them in the second half to come away for a difficult place with a massive three points.

"I needed a reaction and I got it - which says everything about this group of players."