Norwich return to the play-off positions for the first time in four months, after a thoroughly convincing victory over Wolves. The visitors came into the game just one place and two points behind the Canaries, but losing 2-0 they suffered a severe setback in their promotion campaign.
Goals from Johnson and Grabban sealed all three points, but praise must also go to the defence for clocking up a third clean sheet in four games, keeping the likes of Afobe and Sacko quiet. At the same time, Brentford lost 3-0 to Charlton and consequently left the 6th play-off position vacant; an opportunity Norwich made the most of.
Norwich quickly found their feet in the game, hoping to continue the recent run of form. Redmond’s positive forwards run ended with a shot being blazed over the bar, but it was an early warning for Wolves. Moments later, he supplied Howson who couldn’t replicate his header versus Brighton, and instead flashed it across the face of goal and out for a throw-in. Still, Norwich were the dominant side.
The breakthrough came just before the half-hour mark when Redmond whipped in Norwich’s first corner of the afternoon. Delivered with pace and precision, it found Bradley Johnson who had little more to do than guide it in. One-nil, and many of the nerves around Carrow Road were settled.
Wolverhampton posed little threat all game despite their impressive form coming into the match. Sako had one of their few chances, cutting in from the right, and hitting with his left, but Ruddy was down quickly to save competently. The same man later slipped a ball through to Dicko to run onto but Ruddy, who had had little to do, was quick off the mark to eradicate the danger. Up the other end, Olsson had two attempts; the first blocked, but the rebound also fell to him, and his left-footed volley was held by Kuszczak – lucky too as Grabban and Hooper were both sniffing.
After half time, Norwich had obviously been given instructions to finish what they had started. Grabban fired an effort from 25 yards early on, which troubled Kuszczak, but such was the distance, he had ample time to read the flight path and palm away for a corner.
City doubled their lead, and put a Wolves victory beyond doubt on 67 minutes. Bassong, who has recently been commended for his instrumental return to the back line, threaded a wonderfully weighted ball to Olsson who in turn drilled across the box for Grabban to score. Easy, or at least that’s how it was made to look. A seamless flowing move instigated from perhaps an unlikely candidate, and finished by a striker who is hot on form.
This season, Norwich have regularly been susceptible to long balls and the apparent chaos they can cause, and the same nearly occurred in the second half. Thumped forwards in the direction of Dicko, who won the battle with Russell Martin, before unleashing a tame effort at Ruddy’s goal. There was a certain luck about the way it came about, but once the opportunity had arisen, you would expect a better finish. Regardless, it was one of Wolves’ few sights of goal all game.
Before the end Grabban looked to make it three for City and a third for him in two games, latching onto the end of Howson’s looping ball. He hit it on the half-volley, only to see Kuszczak deny him for a second time. His performance perhaps warranted that second goal considering the problems he had posed to Wolverhampton’s defence throughout.
A crucial three points for Norwich, described as many as a ‘pivotal moment in the season’. With other big games approaching in the form of Watford and Ipswich, these consecutive wins offer the perfect launch pad to push on.
After the match, Steven Whittaker explained how as a team Norwich “have been pressing higher, winning the ball back further up the pitch which allows us to get into better attacking positions”. When questioned whether that was due to Alex Neil who now has won 5 out of his 7 games in charge, he replied with “yeah…there’s been a lot of work on the training ground…it’s getting better game by game because we’ve taken on board what the manager has said. We took our foot off the gas at times (at Carrow Road this season) when maybe we were comfortable in games, and allowed teams to come back, but the manager (Alex Neil) has not accepted that one bit and the guys have reacted well.”
