Huddersfield Town vs Norwich City. Sky Bet Championship.
The John Smith's StadiumAttendance18,708.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Huddersfield Town and Norwich City at the John Smith's Stadium as David Wagner saw his Canaries side secure a comfortable win.
Saturday 26 August 2023 18:50, UK
In-form Norwich heaped misery on winless Huddersfield as David Wagner clinched a 4-0 Championship victory on his return to the John Smith's Stadium.
The Canaries continued their unbeaten start to the season as they secured a third-successive win in all competitions and moved up to third.
Wagner's visitors rose to an early lead when Josh Sargent pounced on a Lee Nicholls error to score for the third league game in a row.
And the erroneous hosts fell further behind when a Matty Pearson challenge was punished and Ashley Barnes converted the ensuing spot-kick.
A calamitous opening 17 minutes set the tone for the Terriers, who fell further behind after the restart when Jonathan Rowe notched his fifth goal in as many games.
Substitute Adam Idah added a late fourth as Neil Warnock's side continue their search for a first win of the campaign.
Despite their contrast in seasons so far, it was Huddersfield who started the brighter and they nearly took the lead inside five minutes.
An audacious Josh Koroma effort from range dipped and swerved viciously, but goalkeeper Angus Gunn was saved by the foot of his woodwork.
However, the hosts' spirited start was undone as Sargent benefitted from a comedy of errors to notch the game's opener.
The United States international - who scored against the Terriers last season - blocked a Nicholls clearance and then beat the keeper in a foot race before heading the ball into an empty net.
Sargent was taken off through injury in the process, following his collision with Nicholls, but the enforced change in personnel did not deter Norwich.
And a matter of moments later, they doubled their advantage after a clumsy Pearson felled the impressive Rowe in the area.
Summer recruit Barnes, who scored his 100th EFL goal and his first for the Canaries last weekend, took the responsibility from 12 yards and converted coolly.
A shell-shocked Huddersfield rallied to shorten their arrears and they should have halved the deficit before the interval.
Josh Ruffels' goal-bound header was destined to nestle in the top corner if not for the heroic intervention of Gunn, who clawed the ball clear.
Wagner's half-time instructions clearly had an impact as Norwich added a third instantly after the restart.
An incisive Canaries counter ended with Idah's inviting cross finished first time by Rowe - in the process, the 20-year-old continued his feat of scoring in every game this season.
Warnock's outfit held onto their slim hopes of staging a comeback with Tom Edwards, Koroma and substitute Pat Jones forcing saves from Gunn.
However, any chance of a fightback was extinguished when Idah latched onto a Marcelino Nunez through-ball and calmly slotted it beyond Nicholls.
Norwich clinched a third win in their opening four league games as they equalled their strongest start to the season since 2002.
Huddersfield's Neil Warnock:
"I can't fault the effort at all. There's nobody on the pitch today who's not given everything. The goals we're conceding are silly and we can't keep giving goals away like that - Norwich is a good side without giving them a goal. We started off really strong, on the front foot and I didn't think they were going to cope with us and then we gave a goal away.
"And then the penalty's very iffy and you're two-nil down and you can't believe it. The lads are giving everything and you can't ask any more, but they're very elementary goals and you can't concede like that at this level. We're getting in decent positions, but we've not been able to finish."
Norwich's David Wagner:
"We scored some very good goals and it was a deserved win. Nobody knows better than me how difficult this place can be and this was a big win from us. Coming to Huddersfield away from home, if you don't take the lead or if you give chances away, the supporters can make a big difference.
"The players have done fantastic, used their opportunities and defended their goal with everything they had. (Goalkeeper Angus) Gunn was fantastic and it's our first clean sheet and offensively we were able to break from that."
