Farke’s trailblazers hurdle all obstacles put in front of them
NOT Covid outbreaks, nor injuries to their top scorer, and certainly not Cardiff City seem capable of slowing Norwich in their race back to the Premier League.
The Championship leaders sprinted to their eighth win in 10 games as they made light of various setbacks to prove they have character to match their abundant talent.
Grant Hanley and Todd Cantwell scored their goals and although Joe Ralls pulled one back for Cardiff, their manager Neil Harris is facing the axe.
This was a fifth successive defeat for the Bluebirds and the dismissal of captain Marlon
Pack for a second yellow card 20 minutes from the end closed the door on them – and maybe, Harris, too.
Former
Wales manager Mark Hughes is one option club owner Vincent Tan is thought to be considering.
Cardiff made up some of the gulf between the teams with their fighting spirit.
But the quality belonged to Norwich, even though an outbreak of Covid-19 had denied them of four players and five staff.
They were 2-0 up by the break and although they eased off too soon, manager Daniel Farke – who was also without injured striker Teemu Pukki – was happy.
The Canaries boss said: “Four players missed this game because of Covid. We were also missing other players through flu.
“When you show symptoms you are panicking a little bit. We had to confront so many positive cases and all the testing, but everyone was more focused on not panicking in waiting for the test results than being able to concentrate on football.
“To win in these circumstances was outstanding. ”
The pick of Norwich’s impressive young side was English midfielder Cantwell.
He had unpicked Cardiff’s defence two or three times before be volleyed home.
That was in the 22nd minute, with Farke’s men having taken a third-minute lead through captain Hanley. Norwich’s ebb and flow kept Cardiff all at sea for much of the first hour, although the arrival of home striker Kieffer Moore from the bench sparked a goal for Ralls who swept home Leandro Bacuna’s cross.
But then Pack ruined any hope of a point-saving comeback by picking up a second yellow card after a lunge at Oliver Skipp.
Cardiff have now lost six times at home this season, and asked about his future Harris said: “That’s a pointless question.
“It’s a massive positive. It might sound crazy we didn’t get the point, if not three, we wanted.
“But that’s the level of performance my players have got to have for the rest of the season.”
CARDIFF: Smithies 6; Bacuna 5 (Murphy 86th), Nelson 5, Bennett 6, Bagan 6; Pack 6, Vaulks 6, Ralls 7; Wilson 6, Glatzel 5 (Moore (57th) 7), Hoilett 6 (Ojo (57th) 6)
NORWICH: Barden 7; Aarons 7, Hanley
8, Gibson 7, Sorensen 6; McLean 6, Skipp 6; Buendia 7, Vrancic 8 (Placheta
(75th) 6), Cantwell 9 (Tettey 90th); Hugill 8