Norwich City 3-2 Cardiff City – Match Report
Norwich City survived a late Cardiff City comeback to beat the Welsh outfit 3-2 at Carrow Road.
It was the perfect response from the Canaries, who embarrassingly lost 3-0 away to Birmingham in their last match before the international break.
Interestingly, City boss Alex Neil made several changes heading into the game, with Portuguese full back Ivo Pinto returning to the team for the first time since suffering an injury against Ipswich last month. Midfielder Graham Dorrans and City club captain Russell Martin also came in for their first league starts of the season. Notable players such as Steven Naismith and Sergi Canos were left out of the match day squad entirely to many people’s surprise, with Ryan Bennett relegated to the bench.
The start to the game was relatively dull, with neither team placing a firm grip on the match. Despite being dropped from the first team for this match, Ryan Bennett did get his opportunity as he came on in the twelfth minute for Robbie Brady, who could now potentially face a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Despite the dull start, Norwich did manage to break the deadlock in the sixteenth minute through former Bluebirds striker Cameron Jerome, who took his tally to three for the season with the first half ending 1-0.
After the break and with what seemed like endless Norwich pressure, Norwich scored again with their captain Russell Martin from a corner, who impressed as he looked to firmly cement his place in the Norwich City first team once again.
It took Cardiff going two goals down to suddenly regain some fight and the Bluebirds finally managed to score through former Norwich midfielder Anthony Pilkington after a scramble in the penalty area to give Cardiff a fighting chance in this game once more. However the two goal margin was restored just minutes later as Norwich substitute Josh Murphy brilliantly curled his shot past young keeper Ben Wilson to seemingly secure the three points for Norwich.
Cardiff managed to once again hit back through Pilkington, but it was too late for an equalizer as the full time whistle blew to signal the win for Norwich.
The win gives The Canaries renewed optimism heading into their midweek clash at home to Wigan and puts them only a point off the automatic promotion places.