LETHAL PUKKI HAMMERS WANDERERS
Two-goal Finn lauded by both bosses
NORWICH returned to the summit of the Championship with a Pukki-powered victory over struggling Bolton.
The Finn took his tally to 23 for the season with a brilliantly-taken brace and is one ahead of Sheffield United’s Billy Sharp in the race for the golden boot.
Marco Stiepermann and Emil Buendia grabbed the other goals, whilst Kenny McLean also missed a penalty as the Canaries dismantled a Bolton side bereft of shape or substance.
Daniel Farke hailed a “brutal” performance but reserved special praise for Pukki, a free transfer from Danish side Brondby who has now been involved in more goals than any other player in England’s top four divisions.
“Am I surprised by Teemu?” he said. “No, because I work each and every day with him. I see his quality and, even more important, his character.
“His goals always come in key moments. And his workload, the way he links the play – they are so important for us.
“The assist for our second goal, the vision and the movement, was world class. We are very happy to have him.”
Opposite number Phil Parkinson went even further. “He’s the best goalscorer in the league for me,” said the 51-year-old. “When you’ve a player of that class in your team, you’ve got every chance of going up.”
Parkinson had deployed a back five to combat Pukki and Co, but any notion of keeping
things tight was scotched within eight minutes as Pukki collected a Stiepermann through ball, skinned Jason Lowe and crashed an unstoppable effort into Remi Matthews’ top corner.
It was the Finn’s ninth goal in 11 games and sixth in successive matches, yet his repertoire extends far beyond finding the net.
Moments later, he deftly picked out Onel Hernandez, who should have done better than blast over from 12 yards. And with 25 minutes gone, another intelligent run to the byline saw Pukki’s cut back expertly stroked inside the near-post by Stiepermann.
Realistically, the game was up, yet even damage limitation proved fruitless against a side brimming with invention.
Buendia made it three, artfully beating the offside trap to poke home a lovely ball from Kenny McLean. Hernandez and Stiepermann had efforts repelled.
So frequently was the Trotters backline caught wrong side that a 6-0 half-time scoreline would not have flattered the visitors.
Briefly, Bolton resisted. Matthews, the one home player to emerge with his reputation enhanced, blocked a string of goal-bound efforts.
Yet number four duly arrived when a 50-yard pass from Christoph Zimmermann took out the back five for what seemed like the 85th time. Pukki, edging clear, lobbed the onrushing Matthews.
Norwich even had the luxury of missing their fifth penalty in six attempts, McLean blasting straight at Matthews after Pukki was needlessly felled by Mark Beevers.
“Kenny scored 15 out of 15 penalties in Scotland,” said an exasperated Farke. “We were all confident he could score, but it wasn’t to be.”
Seemingly content to stick at four, Farke’s men dropped off. Bolton – somewhat galvanised by the introduction of Sammy Ameobi – built up a desultory head of steam that evaporated in a flurry of panicked halfchances. By the end, both sides were happy to hear the whistle.
“We looked leggy today,” said Parkinson, whose side beat Birmingham in midweek for a first win in seven games. “We got done by not staying on our feet. Not going with runners. That’s what we could have better, but let’s give credit to them.
“We got beaten by a very good team today. Some of their final third play was out of the Premiership, not the Championship. Will they go up? Yeah, I think so.”
Farke added: “I appreciated Phil’s opinions because he’s an experienced guy. My only criticism is that we could have been more brutal and more clinical.”