‘BEST’ SHOW AS CANARIES REGAIN PERCH
NORWICH boss Daniel Farke felt his side produced the perfect response to a poor run with a big home win over Stoke that took them back to the top.
The Canaries were without a win or a goal in four matches going into the game, and were beaten 2-0 at Swansea last time out, but they were in top form as they moved back above Brentford, who are at home to Barnsley today.
“I think that was our best offensive performances of the season,” he said. “I don’t think I have ever seen a side create more chances against Stoke.
“There was a big determination among to produce the right response – and we did that. I can only pay my compliments to the players.
“We moved the ball much quicker in the final third, found our offensive players in better positions and found a cutting edge in the final third that had been missing.
“Strangely we also made a lot more mistakes than usual as well, giving the ball away too often, but overall I was very happy with the way we played.”
After an early escape, Norwich dominated the early stages and fully deserved their early lead.
Just 90 seconds had elapsed when Jon Obi Mikel volleyed Sam Clucas’ corner wide, but the Canaries took control and it took two brave blocks and a brilliant reaction save from Angus Gunn to prevent them from taking the lead, with Pukki, Buendia and Max Aarons all denied.
But Norwich went ahead after 15 minutes. Todd Cantwell picked the ball up on the right and played a one-two with Mario Vrancic, before firing low into the corner.
Stoke’s Steven Fletcher had a header ruled out for offside, but it was Norwich who grabbed their second just before half-time.
Buendia charged down Morgan Fox’s attempted clearance and got the ball under control and squared for Pukki to sidefoot home.
Stoke took advantage of a gift after 61 minutes. Dimitris Giannoulis chose to send a pass from the left across the face of the box and it was cut out by Nick Powell who stroked the ball pass Tim Krul.
The Greek left-back quickly atoned for his error three minutes later. A surging run down the left ended with him cutting the back ball into the path of Buendia and the talented Argentine produced a supreme first touch to guide the ball past Gunn.
Norwich wrapped up the points after 78 minutes when Buendia was brought down in the area by Joe Allen and Pukki converted the kick.
Stoke manager Michael O’Neill had no complaints about the result – but felt his side had contributed to their own downfall. He said: “Norwich are a good side, and they showed that again, but we didn’t half give them a helping hand. We have been saying too often that we have been playing well without getting what we deserved, but that wasn’t the case today.
“We knew this would be a tough test, but I wasn’t expecting a result like 4-1.
“We are on a bad run at the moment and it’s something we need to address.”