Farke fired up by Pukki late show
Brilliant Teemu strikes again as Norwich return to top spot
Blackburn 0
Norwich 1
Pukki 86
TEEMU Pukki was Norwich’s hero yet again as he swept home a late winner to send the Canaries flying to the top of the Championship.
Norwich knew this was the perfect chance to nab top spot from Leeds United — who face Aston Villa today.
Pukki arrived from nowhere to convert Onel Hernandez’s lethal cross on an afternoon where quality football was non-existent.
Norwich boss Daniel Farke said: ‘I trust my lads. We had to handle some difficult situations but I knew we could create something special.
‘They tried to break our rhythm and to annoy us. We played our football and made it our game. It was a special win for us.
‘Teemu scored a crucial goal. Sometimes strikers are always there with the fifth or sixth goal, but he wants to score the first. But to be honest I’m not too interested in praising him too much — our fans will do that. I’m more interested in praising our entire group of players.’
With Tony Mowbray’s men as committed to playing attacking football as the visitors, hopes were high that this could be a Christmas classic.
But neither side came flying out of the blocks as expected.
After 13 minutes, the game’s first real chance arrived when former Celtic striker — and Norwich top scorer — Pukki went close. Norwich woke up as Todd Cant well threaded an inchperfect pass behind the home defence but although Pukki was nicely placed, he hit the side netting rather than the back of David Raya’s goal.
It was an ominous sign that when Norwich turn it on, they — and Pukki — can change a match in an instant. The first half ended goalless as the match failed to take off and the second half looked like going the same way.
It was not helped by some dreadful refereeing by Darren England, who seemed intent on blowing his whistle every time a challenge was made.
Both sets of attackers had to work with whatever scraps they were thrown. Pukki pushed another shot wide of Raya’s net on 66 minutes and Danny Graham headed over for Blackburn as a breakthrough remained elusive.
With 20 minutes remaining, Norwich missed the chance of the match as Raya produced a stunning save to deny Ben Godfrey’s header from pointblank range. Just 30 seconds later, the same player had a goal disallowed for offside.
It looked like being that kind of afternoon until Pukki ghosted in and sent Norwich’s fans home with a festive smile.
Blackburn boss Mowbray said: ‘It was a game of fine margins but we came out of it at the wrong end. We are frustrated and disappointed but we move on to the next game.’