‘That’s FOUR points from 15’ rages Bruce

Farke’s side derailed Villa’s automatic promotion push.

England Under-21 flier Murphy had been having an unhappy afternoon, constantly taking the wrong options, and coughing up the ball.

But just as Canaries fans were beginning to get on his back, Murphy conjured up a moment of sheer magic in first-half stoppage time to claim his 10th goal of the season.

Picking up a loose ball wide on the right, he turned back inside and smacked a 30-yard screamer over keeper Sam Johnstone into the top far corner.

Farke said: “Sometimes you get lucky, but it was an outstanding goal. Josh is always capable of those sort of strikes because he has the ability and the technique.”

Murphy set up Norwich’s second minutes after the break with a blistering run at the Villa defence.

He released midfielder Harrison Reed, whose clever chip across the box was calmly converted by German striker Dennis Srbeny.

Jack Grealish (below) got Villa back into the game on 67 minutes, turning smartly and sliding a 20-yard daisy cutter past Angus Gunn for his first goal since February. But Murphy had the final word with yet another slaloming run and perfectly timed 72nd-minute pass to put James Maddison’s 15th goal of the season on a plate.

Farke said: “Murphy’s was an outstanding performance. After two losses in a row, I got the reaction I wanted. We were aggressive. We controlled everything.”