Ram’s raid eases pressure on Dean after rough ride
AARON RAMSEY picked the perfect moment to lift the pressure off Dean Smith with his first Canaries goals.
Norwich are back in the play-off slots after the on-loan Aston Villa teenager’s brace propelled them to a first win in seven.
The Carrow Road faithful would have been baying for Smith’s blood had Stoke, who had their chances, come out on top.
But instead sub Gabriel Sara secured that badlyneeded win with the third, making Nick Powell’s late Potters reply irrelevant.
Smith hailed Ramsey, 19, who had played under him at Villa, for coming up trumps.
He said: “The thing missing from his game was goals. I’m pleased for him that he has got them finally.”
“There was an edginess out there, you could feel it in the stadium.
“And the fluidity was not there. The second goal lifted the weight off our shoulders – we came up with some really good football after that.”
Norwich had certainly started sluggishly and needed Ben Gibson to make goal-saving blocks, first from Dwight Gayle and then Harry Clarke.
Sam Byram’s missed header from a corner was the Canaries’ best moment at the other end before Ramsey hooked home in the 38th minute.
Liam Gibbs won the ball off Lewis Baker and sent Teemu Pukki away on the right of the box for the Finn to twice turn Ben Wilmot and fire off a fierce strike.
Potters keeper Joe
Bursik parried it but
Ramsey stretched out a leg to net the rebound.
Stoke were denied an instant equaliser when Jacob Brown headed Tariqe
Fosu’s cross over. Brown was back again early in the second half – but found only the side-netting after Will Smallbone’s pass.
Stoke wasted an even better chance when Fosu again crossed from the left and sub Powell put a free header over.
Norwich were rocking – but Ramsey and Pukki combined again to make it 2-0 in the 71st minute.
Ramsey surged into the box and passed to Pukki, whose back-heel flick was perfect for the teenager to slot past Bursik.
Confidence surged through the Canaries at last and Bursik had to deny Sara and fellow sub Todd Cantwell.
But Sara poked in the third on 77 minutes after Bursik had parried a shot from Marcelino Nunez.
Norwich keeper Angus Gunn foiled Wilmot and Jordan Thompson with smart stops but was beaten in stoppage-time when Powell thumped home.
The Potters have now lost their last three and manager Alex Neil, the former Norwich boss, admitted the good work counted for nothing.
He said: “We were a match for Norwich – but we lost and nobody really cares about how you perform.”
NORWICH: Gunn 7; Byram 6, Hanley 7, Gibson 6, McCallum 6; Gibbs 7, Hayden 7 (Cantwell (68) 5), Dowell 5 (Sara (56) 6), Ramsey 8, Hernandez 6 (Nunez (67) 5); Pukki 8 (Hugill (81) 4)
STOKE: Bursik 6; Clarke 7, Jagielka 7, Wilmot 6, Fox 6; Baker 6 (Thompson
(76) 5), Laurent 6; Brown 6, Smallbone 6 (Powell (63) 5), Fosu 7; Gayle 6 (Delap (76) 5) STAR MAN: Aaron Ramsey – The on-loan Aston Villa teenager picked the perfect moment to bag his first. REF: Keith Stroud 6