PERCHED PROUDLY
Nothing stopping table-topping Canaries in bid for Premier return
NEITHER Covid nor injuries to their top scorer, and certainly not Cardiff City seem capable of slowing Norwich City in their race back to the Premier League.
The Championship leaders sprinted to their eighth win in 10 games as they made light of various setbacks to prove they have character to match their abundant talent.
Grant Hanley and Todd Cantwell scored their goals and although Joe Ralls pulled a goal back for Cardiff, their manager, Neil Harris, is on the brink of dismissal.
This was a fifth-successive defeat for the nose-diving Bluebirds and although there was spirit shown to the end, the sending-off of captain Marlon Pack for a second yellow card 20 minutes from the end closed the door on them – and maybe, Harris, too.
Former Wales manager Mark Hughes is one option Cardiff owner Vincent Tan is thought to be considering. Cardiff made up some of the gulf between the teams with their fighting spirit, but the quality and precision belonged to Norwich, even though the virus denied them of four players and five staff.
They were 2-0 up by the break and although they eased off too soon, manager Daniel Farke – who was also without injured striker Teemu Pukki – was happy his Canaries are roosting at the summit.
Farke said: “Four players missed this game because of Covid. We were also missing other players through flu.
“When you show symptoms, you are panicking a little bit. We had to confront so many positive cases and all the testing, but everyone was more focused on not panicking in
SENT PACKING Cardiff’s Marlon Pack is shown the red card waiting for the test results than being able to concentrate on football.
“To win in these circumstances was outstanding. We have quality players, but we also have such spirit and togetherness.”
The pick of Norwich’s impressive young side was midfielder Cantwell – all flowing golden locks and flowing passes. He had unpicked Cardiff ’s defence two or three times before be volleyed home after Alex Smithies initially had saved from Jordan
Hugill at the end of a crisp 70yard move. That was in the 22nd minute, with Farke’s men having taken a third-minute lead through captain Hanley. Cardiff’s determination seems not to extend to marking in their own box at corners, so Hanley was able to make the Bluebirds rue a bad miss after just 20 seconds by Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson. Norwich’s ebb and flow kept Cardiff all at sea for much of the first hour, although the arrival of home striker Kieffer Moore from the bench sparked a goal for Ralls who swept home Leandro Bacuna’s cross. But then Pack ruined any hope of a point-saving comeback by picking up a second yellow card after a lunge at Oliver Skipp. Cardiff have now lost six times already at home this season, although Harris insists there is enough spirit to launch a revival.
What he may not have enough of, though, is time.
Harris said: “On the whole, it’s a massive positive. It might sound crazy we didn’t get the point, if not three, we wanted, but that’s the level of performance my players have got to have for the rest of the season.
“What an effort for the 90 minutes, but for the last 25, with 10 men, we went toe to toe with by far the best team in the division.
“The application, the attitude, we had on the back of the week we had was first class and I expect more of that and more quality on Wednesday against QPR.
“I thought there were some outstanding performances in a makeshift back-four.”
Smithies 6; Bacuna 5 (Murphy 86, 5), Nelson 5, Bennett 6, Bagan 6; Pack 6, Vaulks 6, Ralls 7; Wilson 6, Glatzel 5 (Moore 57, 7), Hoilett 6 (Ojo 57, 6). Unused Subs: Phillips, Patten, Sang, Evans, Harris.
Barden 7; Aarons 7, Hanley 8, Gibson 7, Sorensen 6; Mclean 6, Skipp 6; Buendia 7, Vrancic 8 (Placheta 75, 6), Cantwell 9 (Tettey, 90); Hugill 8.
Mccracken, Omobamidele, Dowell, Hernandez, Omotoye.
Todd Cantwell. Coaxed, controlled and conjured most events from midfield. Tony Harrington 8.