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Our Norwich City chief reporter, David Freezer, has delivered his verdict from Ewood Park following a 2-1 win for the Canarias championship leader.
Fantastic finish
Teemu Pukki reached a milestone at Ewood Park when he made his 100th appearance in the Canaries colors, and made that achievement even sweeter by scoring his 50th goal for the club on the same day.
The Finnish star scored his eighth of the season to open the scoring with a graceful finish in the 22nd minute, with wonderful control of Alex Tettey’s blast into the box from the left before turning and scoring home from close range before Rovers might react.
His ninth, and No. 50 overall, was a bit unorthodox, but the replays suggest a lot of purpose, as he regained the lead in the 66th minute, just six minutes after the hosts leveled.
Emi Buendia had shot from 25 yards and Pukki adjusted to throw the ball into goal and on the wrong foot Thomas Kaminski before celebrating enthusiastically to make sure everyone knew he was his goal.
After being rejected by the crossbar in the first half and seeing Todd Cantwell miss an opportunity at the end, he was perhaps unlucky enough not to see the day capped by a hat-trick.
In the same stadium where he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win two years ago, the 30-year-old scored his 38th goal in 59 championship games, once again re-emphasizing how lethal he is at this level.
Legendary status
The only change in the city team saw Tettey become the 40th player to accumulate 250 appearances for the Canaries.
Having watched the first 10 league games of the campaign from the bench, the 34-year-old has appeared in the last eight games, starting four of them.
The former Norway international signed a one-year contract knowing that he would take on the role of mentor and senior statesman within the team, but also took on the role of creator at Ewood Park, claiming only his sixth assist with the Norwich colors.
It looked more like a hopeful blast that was controlled by Pukki for the opener, but there was some good footwork from the defensive midfielder to keep the attack alive first.
However, Tettey’s recent playing time again emphasizes the need for a long-term successor in defensive midfield. Oliver Skipp has shown great promise in that role, but staying beyond this season would seem very dependent on promotion.
The answer may already be in the team, although in the Danish Jacob Sorensen, 22, who continues as a left back for the eleventh consecutive game and, although he does not always look positionally comfortable, he looks good on the ball.
Qualifying for the left-back position in January could be crucial for Sorensen to benefit from Tettey’s tutelage before leaving the club, if it is to be at the end of this season.
The heat is up
Maintaining a three-point lead was also absolutely crucial, with all of Bournemouth, Swansea, Watford, Reading and Brentford winning.
Daniel Farke has highlighted the goal of staying around the average of two points per game and this win actually puts Canarias slightly ahead of that mark, with 37 of 18 games.
That’s the most points Norwich has had during any of their previous promotional seasons at this level, one point more than the 2018-19 title winners at this stage and three more than eventual champions Nigel Worthington after At 18, when Darren Huckerby was inspiring his promotional drive as a borrower in this stage of 2003-04.
Add to that another win by a one-goal margin to bring the season tally to 10 of 11 wins by the narrowest margin and the strong mentality of this team continues to grow with the game.
Brave blackburn
These points came against a Rovers team willing to face the leaders, enjoying 56 percent possession, the most any team has achieved against the Canaries so far this season.
Michael McGovern, who tried to play from behind, may have contributed to Harvey Elliott’s draw, but the Northern Ireland international certainly played his part in this victory.
His first save from Sam Gallagher’s header was the punch pick, but he was also in the right place to deal with the efforts of Elliott, Lewis Holtby and Adam Armstrong.
Taking one hand to Elliott’s shot was also enough to allow Max Aarons to avoid the goal on the line.
However, City were also relieved to see a Gallagher shot crash off the crossbar early in the second half, with an adventurous opponent taking 19 shots on target, six of which were on target, rather than sitting deep. and try to be defensive on many sides. to have.
