Norwich get the party started
Promotion in style for Farke’s flyers
IF Norwich City fans knew it would end like this then there would never have been any early season angst when it didn’t seem to be going the way of manager Daniel Farke.
They were 17th after six games with five points — nine off top spot. But, as the Barclay Stand sang proudly, Farke’s taking them up, as he promised he would.
Three years si nce t hey were relegated from the Premier League, Norwich are back and they will be an exciting addition. They may be a little gung- ho which leaves them vulnerable at the back, but it’s that style of football that means they are £200million richer.
Farke will have to be shrewd — just as he was when signing Marco Stiepermann and Mario Vrancic, the pair who scored Norwich’s first and second here, before Lewis Travis showed why defensive surgery is needed when he halved the deficit. But this is a promotion that must be enjoyed because it hasn’t been a flawless ride.
Upon arriving in Norwich, you could have been forgiven for thinking they were already up.
Some were at the ground three hours before kick-off while others stayed i n the packed Compleat Angler pub close to Carrow Road that bit longer to watch Sheffield United beat rivals Ipswich 2-0 and go top of the Championship.
‘We know what we need to do now,’ said one fan, clutching his pint.
A win would also take them over 90 points in the Championship for only a second time, having reached 94 points in 2004 as they also won promotion to the Premier League as champions. But this night was never going to be a formality.
Blackburn weren’t going to go quietly — and they didn’t — a look at the form guide told you that. Four victories on the bounce, including Derby and Nottingham Forest.
‘We don’t fear anyone ,’ said manager Tony Mowbray, a former Ipswich favourite, before the trip to Norfolk .‘ We have to make it difficult for them.’ But many managers have said that only to find it’s not so easy to break down a Norwich defence that captain Christoph Zimmermann and Ben Godfrey organise so effectively, with full-backs Max Aarons and Jamal Lewis, graduates of the club’s academy, racing forward to pin back their opposite numbers. Then you have to come up with a strategy for stopping Argentine maestro Emi Buendia, who had the fans singing his name again for his involvement in the first goal.
Buendia ran forward and set Abel Hernandez clear, only for his shot to be blocked. However, as Blackburn tried to regroup, Stiepermann had already picked his spot and found the bottom left corner. Any Norwich fan who had been stiff with nerves could loosen up a little.
Blackburn didn’t seem ready or able to cope. Their high line left them exposed at the mercy of Championship top scorer Teemu Pukki.
Pukki, who has 28 League goals this season, was put through just inside the Blackburn half, but Darragh Lenihan, with only defensive partner Derrick Williams left to cover, fouled the striker. Lenihan wasn’t the last
man so he was only shown a yellow card by referee Andrew Madley.
Hernandez got to the left of the six-yard box, cut the ball back but somehow Blackburn goalkeeper Jayson Leutwiler scrambled to deny Pukki on the line. Not that it mattered to Vrancic, who knew the best way to goal was to send a rocket into Leutwiler’s top right corner.
Just 22 minutes in and the smoke bombs were released. The smoke was hastily fanned away, though, just one minute later as not one Norwich player seemed alert when Travis controlled the ball on the edge of Tim Krul’s area and curled a shot into the bottom corner.
Norwich were suddenly a little more vulnerable and a few nervous shouts followed Blackburn’s near miss when Danny Graham and Bradley Dack just failed to get on the end of Adam Armstrong’s cross.
It was the closest Blackburn would come to scoring for some time as Norwich went for a third.
Hernandez jinked inside and outside of Blackburn right back Elliott Bennett before crashing an effort off t he woodwork. And if t he Norwich f ans weren’t getting entertained by those on the pitch, subs Jordan Rhodes and Timm Klose joined in with the crowd.
Hernandez desperately wanted to score. Another shot left his boot but was blocked and then Pukki missed. By now, the fans were on their feet.
On The Ball, City! was sung one more time, the fans were warned not to come on the pitch — they didn’t — and finally they could celebrate.