FIVE STAR SHOW FROM CANARIES
Norwich cruise it to climb to seventh
NORWICH City manager Neil Adams admitted his side had to be patient and earn the right to play before running riot in the second half against ten-man Huddersfield Town.
Town were reduced in numbers when Murray Wallace was sent off, before Bradley Johnson bundled home Gary Hooper’s cross within a minute of the start of the second half.
Substitute Nathan Redmond’s header doubled City’s lead before Johnson nodded home his second of the game.
Cameron Jerome’s header made it four before substitute Lewis Grabban’s clinical finish completed the rout as Norwich secured just their second win in nine home games.
“It’s all about results,” said Adams. “The difference is sticking the ball in at one end and stopping preventable mistakes at the other end.
“We’ve been more solid in midfield and we’ve got six points from it.We’ve set up to make sure we don’t end up chasing a game and to stop giving teams a head start.
“I was pleased at half-time. It’s a 90-minute game and if we’d have gone gung-ho from the start and lost 1-0 we wouldn’t have been applauded off.
“It was tough to leave Nathan out last week as well as this week. The sending off gave us the chance to bring him on and he was outstanding.”
Town’s hopes of a first point in four away games took a significant dent in the 17th minute as Jerome latched on to a poor touch from Mark Hudson, only to be unceremoniously brought down by Wallace as he headed for goal, leaving referee Mark Brown with no alternative but to show the red card.
Hooper and Jerome both wasted glorious chances as City struggled to break down the Terriers in an uninspiring first half despite their numerical advantage.
Adams introduced Redmond at half-time, and the change paid immediate dividends. Less than 60 seconds into the second half, Hooper’s back heel across the box fell to the outstanding Johnson, who managed to poke the ball past Smithies.
City doubled their advantage minutes later as Martin Olsson’s deep cross from the left found Redmond at the back post, and his looping header sailed over Smithies and into the net.
With just six minutes gone in the second half, Jack Robinson blocked Jonny Howson’s wellstruck volley, and the ball fell kindly for Johnson to head into an empty net with Smithies stranded on the floor.
Redmond continued to torment the Terriers with his pace, and his cross provided the fourth as Hooper headed back across goal for Jerome to head home.
Two more substitutions brought rewards for Adams as Grabban slotted home the fifth of the game from fellow replacement Wes Hoolahan’s pass within two minutes of replacing Hooper.
“I thought we responded well to the sending off,” said Huddersfield boss Chris Powell, who has seen his side slip to four consecutive away defeats.
“We were in the game in the first half but you can’t start the second half like we did, and we gave ourselves no chance of getting something from the game. We made things difficult in the first half but we certainly didn’t in the second half.
“When you’re down to ten men you know you’re going to get exposed. We have to respond to what happened. I’m going to have to pick the players up and then we’ll go again next week and I have some decisions to make with regards to the team.
“I’ve got no problems with the red card, it was the correct decision and we move on. It’s not a great day for the team, for me or for Huddersfield.”