Norwich back to winning ways after beating Birmingham

By Sports Desk September 30, 2023

Norwich put last weekend’s humiliation at Plymouth firmly behind them with a comfortable 2-0 win over Birmingham at Carrow Road.

The Canaries were hammered 6-2 at Home Park, and had also lost their previous home game against Leicester, but two goals inside five minutes early in the second half got their Championship campaign back on track.

Gabriel Sara set the ball rolling in the 55th minute with a close-range header and the hosts gave themselves some breathing space on the hour mark with a well-taken goal from Jonathan Rowe, his sixth of the season.

For Birmingham it was a fifth league game without a win, following a bright start to the season that had seen them among the early pacesetters.

Norwich had the better of a low-key first half, although a well-drilled visiting defence was largely untroubled.

Adam Idah drilled a low shot just wide on 16 minutes before Dimitris Giannoulis was also narrowly off target after intercepting an attempted header back to his keeper from Cody Drameh.

Idah then headed a right-wing cross straight at John Ruddy while the keeper also safely gathered a snap-shot from just outside the box by Christian Fassnacht.

Birmingham seemed content to soak up the pressure and it took them nearly 40 minutes to register an effort on goal, with Jay Stansfield’s long range strike sailing well over the bar.

The Canaries were quick out of the blocks in the second half, almost forcing the ball in from a goalmouth scramble in the very first minute.

But it was the Blues who almost edged in front on 51 minutes.

Stansfield found himself with a clear sight on goal after neat through ball from Koji Miyoshi and it required an excellent stop from Angus Gunn to keep out his powerful shot.

Norwich were stung into action and finally got the goal their dominance deserved four minutes later.

The ball was fed wide to Giannoulis on the left and his cross was delivered perfectly for Sara to head home from inside the six-yard box.

That eased the nerves inside Carrow Road and it was 2-0 shortly afterwards as Birmingham carelessly lost possession in their own half and Rowe burst into the area before beating the exposed Ruddy low to his left.

Miyoshi hit the crossbar with a well-struck shot as the visitors sought a response but that was as good as it got, with Norwich seeing out the game with the minimum of fuss.

Related items

  • Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United

    Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.

    Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.

    The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.

    Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.

    Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.

    Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.

    Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.

    Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.

  • Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty

    Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.

    Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.

    Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.

    Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.

    The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.

    Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.

    Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider

    Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.

    That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.

  • Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons

    Ethan Ampadu said Leeds United's players never let their belief waver despite a poor end to their Championship campaign, with a trip to Wembley now coming up.

    Leeds will face either Southampton or West Brom in the play-off final on May 26 after thrashing Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday.

    The Whites endured a miserable end to their campaign, losing 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers before going down at home to Southampton on the final day, as Ipswich Town claimed automatic promotion behind Leicester City.

    But after their emphatic defeat of the Canaries, who they drew with 0-0 in the first leg, Ampadu claimed Leeds never lost their way.

    "Towards the end of the season there was a lot of talk about how we were playing, how we weren't on the front foot, how we weren't aggressive or clinical," he told Sky Sports.

    "But we always had our belief that on our day, when we are firing, we can be hard for anyone to play against.

    "When the front four, five, six play like that, they make the job of us defenders a lot easier.

    "Whoever we play in the final it's going to be a hard game but to go in like this, to put in a performance like this, we can take momentum and confidence into it.

    "The fans were second to none and we enjoyed their support – now we are going to prepare for the big one."

    Georginio Rutter scored one and set up another in the rout, and he put the onus on Leeds to replicate the same level at Wembley.

    "It's incredible. Today we go to Wembley," he said.

    "We played a good game. I'm happy, everybody is happy. One more game and we will see.

    "We played very good. 4-0 is a clean sheet. Today, we were mature. It's a very good performance from the team.

    "I want to try my best and help the team. If we play like this [at the final], we have a good chance but we have to play like this."

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.