Canaries wing it back to summit, Leeds United in hot pursuit
LONDON: Norwich displayed battling qualities in coming from behind to beat struggling Rotherham 3-1 and reclaim their place atop the second tier Championship on Saturday.
Second-half goals by Todd Cantwell, Maximilian Aarons and Teemu Pukki saw the Canaries to another three points and their seventh win in eight matches.
Norwich – who have become a formidable unit in their second season under former Borussia Dortmund reserve team coach Daniel Farke – are a point ahead of sleeping giants Leeds United.
The competition is so tight that just 10 points separates the top eight. However, under iconic Argentinian manager Marcelo Bielsa Leeds have shown that this might be the season they finally return to the Premier League from which they were relegated in 2004.
They had briefly gone top earlier on Saturday after beating promotion rivals Sheffield United 1- 0 in a typically gritty Yorkshsire Derby.
A dreadful blunder by Sheffield United goalkeeper Dean Henderson – on loan form Manchester United – helped Leeds pick up the three points, their first win at Bramall Lane since they won the old First Division title 26 years ago.
Spanish veteran Pablo Hernandez slotted the ball into an empty net after Henderson had passed the ball to Leeds youngster Jack Clarke, to send Leeds to the top of the table.
The visitors held on for their third successive win despite some nervy moments especially when Conor Washington’s acrobatic overhead kick rattled the crossbar.
Bielsa, who is held in great regard by the likes of the younger generation of coaches such as Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino, said he was satisfied without being over the moon at how his team played.
“The opponents dominated at the beginning of the game and at the end of the game, but between these two moments, without being excellent, we did an interesting performance,” said Bielsa.
“It is not convenient to make comparisons with other teams at this moment in the season.
“It was hard for us to find a solution to the project of play from Sheffield United,” added the 63-year- old former Argentina and Chile national coach. — AFP