PERFECT FINNISH
Farke hails ‘role model’ Pukki after hat-trick
THERE would be no easy games in the Premier League, or so Norwich were warned, the Championship winners having promised to stick to their attacking principles despite the step up in class.
How naive, we said. Play like you did last season and you will be torn apart in this division. Really?
Try telling that to Daniel Farke and hat-trick-scoring Teemu Pukki after this stroll against Steve B r u c e ’ s h a p l e s s Ne wc a s t l e . Norwich would have come up against stiffer resistance in the second tier.
Indeed, it was telling that this was Pukki’s first treble for the club — so much for chances being harder to come by at this level.
Pukki was clinical, make no mistake, and he certainly put Newcastle’s £40million frontman Joelinton to shame. But the Finnish striker was assisted, not j ust by his own excellent team-mates, but also by the disarray of the visiting backline.
‘Defensively, we didn’t do enough,’ said Bruce. ‘ We didn’t get tight enough or stay with runners.
‘ When you give someone like Pukki space… who has proven he is a good finisher and only needs a yard. Unfortunately, we gave him two yards.’
And the rest. Even Norwich joint owner Delia Smith, gin and tonic in hand, could have skipped through Newcastle’s defence.
Bruce said this was his dream job when arriving at his hometown club last month. Well, it is fast turning into a nightmare.
His team played with no tempo, no obvious game-plan and very few ideas in the final third. All it took was a little bit of energy and positivity from the hosts and they were swept aside. ‘It was difficult, hugely disappointing in the manner of it,’ said Bruce. ‘That’s the biggest thing I have to accept, the manner of it. With or without the ball, we certainly didn’t do enough.
‘Norwich played a certain way, which they did last year, and we didn’t do enough to counter that. It was the basics.’
So it is back to basics for Bruce, just two games into a season that is threatening to unravel quicker than the speed at which some of Newcastle’s fans headed for the exits after Pukki’s third on 75 minutes.
Those who did remain did not even bother to celebrate when Jonjo Shelvey scored a stoppagetime consolation. For them, there was no consolation, just an arduous journey home in the midst of a rail strike.
And, it must be said, this campaign is already in danger of coming off the tracks. Afterwards, Bruce accepted that the body language of his players was not good. That hardly bodes well if some of them look as if they’ve downed tools in August.
The same could not be said for the energy and enthusiasm of Farke’s side. A sobering 4-1 defeat at Liverpool on the opening weekend had many predicting a season- long struggle. But, on this evidence, you would be backing them to enjoy a far more comfortable campaign than their visitors.
‘In the first half we were like a lightning and thunder storm. So many good moves,’ said Farke.
‘Don’t look at Newcastle’s performance. Ours was top class and, if we get to that level, it is going to be difficult for any side.
‘But Pukki has stepped up. Not just his goals but his workload and how he can link the play. There was a scene in the first half when he ran back 80 yards to win possession. He is a role model.’
Norwich were always likely to start on the front foot and their purpose was too much for a stodgy Newcastle during an opening 15 minutes in which they enjoyed 83 per cent possession.
They should have been in front on five minutes when Pukki set up
Todd Cantwell but the midfielder fired straight at Martin Dubravka from six yards.
But all of that home dominance would have counted for nothing had Joelinton turned in Isaac Hayden’s centre on 26 minutes. The club-record signing had peeled free at the far post but, with a finish at odds with his price tag, he planted his header into the crowd.
Bruce’s team paid the price and the concession was, in part, selfinflicted, defender Paul Dummett giving away a careless corner from which they failed to clear and Pukki volleyed home from 14 yards.
Newcastle would have been level entering the break had it not been for a superb save from Tim Krul, the former Magpies keeper blocking Fabian Schar’s header on the goal-line.
But Norwich always looked the more likely scorers and so it proved when Pukki took advantage of some soft defending to work a yard for a shot and steered into the bottom corner on 63 minutes. It was just as simple for his third after good work from Cantwell.
So much for no easy games in the Premier League.