CANARIES ARE ON CLOUD NINE
Pukki & Co power to ninth straight win & quick return to Prem
BY
DANIEL FARKE’S men reeled off a ninth straight win as their march back to the Premier League continues.
But the Canaries must hope and plan to put up a better show when they get there this time.
After relegation last season in bottom place, with only 21 points, Farke has got his side back in the winning habit.
It has left them 10 points clear at the top, within touching distance of the Premier League once more. Early first-half goals from
Teemu Pukki and Kieran Dowell put City in control at the City Ground.
The quality of their finishing and crisp passing illustrated a side en-route back to the top tier.
Workmanlike Forest rarely looked like getting anything out of the game as they continue to try and inch their way to safety.
Norwich started well with Max Aarons forcing the recalled Jordan Smith into a low save to his left, with Smith in for his first League start in Forest’s goal this season in place of Brice Samba. But he had to pick the ball out of his net in just the ninth minute after a clinical finish from Pukki for his 22nd goal of the season, including 11 in nine games.
He was assisted by a short pass from Lukas Rupp before burying a low right-foot finish in the far corner.
The Canaries doubled their lead four minutes later from Dowell’s first League goal for the club.
The ex-Forest loanee exchanged passes with Rupp despatching a left-foot scorcher from 25 yards, with Dowell in the starting line-up in place of Argentine ace Emiliano Buendia, who has just welcomed a second child. Pukki and Kenny McClean were denied chances to extend the lead and after the break, Forest tried to hit back but saw Luke Freeman fire wide.
Lewis Grabban was foiled by Norwich keeper Tim Krul on 52 minutes and that was it as far as Forest getting back into the game was concerned.
FOREST: Smith 6, Christie 6, Figueiredo 6, McKenna 6, Blackett 6, Garner 6, Yates 7 (Murray 86), Ameobi 5, Dias 6, Freeman 6 (Mighten 76), Grabban 5 (Taylor 76) NORWICH: Krul 7, Aarons 7, Hanley 7, Gibson 7, Giannoulis 7, MOTM McClean 8, Skipp 7 (Zimmermann 90), Dowell 7 (Hernandez 88), Rupp 8 (Sorensen 85), Cantwell 7 (Tettey 90), Pukki 8 (Hugill 88)
REFEREE: Leigh Doughty
PUT your hand up if you think Newcastle will go down this season?
Woooaaah! unanimous.
Perhaps it’s easier to count those who think the Magpies will stay up. Yes, we’ve seen your hand, Mr Bruce, but is there anyone else?
Beleaguered Newcastle boss Steve Bruce is one of the few, the very few, who believe Toon can beat the drop.
An inability to win, a crippling injury list, and talk of dressing-room splits all point to Newcastle being relegated for the third time in the Mike Ashley era.
A recent poll of Toon supporters showed more than 80 per cent have given up on them this season.
Most of them saw all this coming months ago. Now their pessimism is shared nationwide. Pundits who wondered why Geordie fans seemed to be always complaining now accept they may just have had a point.
Fulham manager Scott Parker and Brighton boss Graham Potter won’t say it
That’s fairly publicly but you can bet they fancy the chances of their teams finishing above Toon. And why shouldn’t they?
Fulham, who can overhaul the Magpies by beating Leeds at Craven Cottage tomorrow night, have been playing well since the New Year and, despite defeat at the hands of champions-elect Manchester City last weekend, look upwardly mobile.
And while Brighton’s results have rarely matched performances, their victory at Southampton on Sunday will have boosted morale.
The Seagulls are only a point above the Toon yet bookies make them heavy odds-on favourites to beat Bruce’s men in a real relegation six-pointer on Saturday.
Newcastle have won just two of their last 17 Premier League games and face Brighton without top scorer Callum Wilson and playmaker Allan Saint-Maximin.
Relief at snatching a point against Aston Villa last Friday soon gave way to the grim realisation that the fixture was deemed by most Toon fans as a “must-win” game if they are to stay up.
Bruce did take positives from the match: “If we show the same spirit, we will be OK,” he said.
“Who knows, that could be the point that proves to be important for us.”
The Newcastle boss is correct in arguing that his side have improved in recent weeks, but the bar was set pretty low. They could count
Mar 20 Apr 4 Apr 11 Apr 12 Apr 24 May 8 May 12 May 15 May 23 May 23 themselves unlucky to have been beaten at home by Leeds and Crystal Palace while fortune certainly didn’t shine on them when they lost Wilson in the win over Southampton and Miguel Almiron and Saint-Maximin a fortnight later in a 1-1 draw with Wolves.
The fall-out from that game proved just as damaging as Ruben Neves’ late equaliser, triggering a bust-up between Bruce and Toon midfielder Matt Ritchie, and talk of a dressing-room revolt.
Since then several players, including skipper Jamaal Lascelles, have come forward to claim Newcastle are united. And this week, Wilson, who is due to return after the international break, issued a rallying cry ahead of his much-needed comeback.
“I’m looking forward to the run-in,” he said. “All I can do is be positive for the boys and make sure they’re upbeat and feeling confident. That’s the key – everyone pulling in the same direction.”
Stirring words but it will be the actions of Wilson and his team-mates on the pitch which will hold the key to Newcastle’s fate.
JURGEN KLOPP admits Liverpool face mission impossible in their bid to qualify for the Champions League.
The Reds are sixth in the Premier League table, just five points off fourthplaced Chelsea.
But Klopp revealed in an interview with former German skipper Lothar Matthaus that he reckons his side are unlikely to be in the top four come the end of the season.
And he also cast real doubt on whether they can go all the way in the Champions League this season, despite reaching the quarter-finals. The Anfield boss, who described some of the errors his faltering champions have made this season as ‘slapstick,’ said: “I like to be an optimist but in the league it is almost impossible to qualify.
“Tottenham are in the running and Gareth Bale is now playing again. Manchester City and
Manchester United are far ahead, and Chelsea are on the rise. “Reaching the Champions League through our league position will be difficult, we know that. “And you don’t usually win the
Champions League with the kind of injury problems we have.”
Liverpool’s season has been wrecked by the longterm absence of key players like Virgil van Dijk, who has been sidelined since picking up a knee injury against Mersey rivals Everton October.
Incredibly, they have lost six games in a row at Anfield, a run which has left them with a top-four battle on their minds instead of a title defence.
Klopp has put Liverpool’s woeful defence of their Premier League crown down to comical errors and wastefulness in front of goal. He said: “Our opponents usually don’t need a lot of chances against us because we make big mistakes, insane ones that can almost be described as slapstick.
“We still create a lot of chances – in the ‘expected goals’ lists we are second only to Manchester City – but we are far behind them in the number of goals actually scored (64 to 48).
“This problem has been going on throughout the season.”
Klopp fears the scale of the financial hit the Mersey men will take if they are not in the Champions League next season.
But he insists he is not feeling any pressure at
Anfield despite their alarming dip in fortunes.
The 53-year-old, whose team have fought for Europe’s biggest trophy in each of the last four seasons, went on: “No Champions League football would mean a huge financial loss for us.
“I am aware that at almost all football clubs in the world I would be questioned in a situation like our current one. That is reality, that is the business. I would accept that immediately, but it’s different here in Liverpool.
“Here nobody doubts anyone. We have accepted the situation for ourselves and will fight our way through it.”