Norwich City vs Burnley. Sky Bet Championship.
Carrow RoadAttendance26,536.
Report and free match action from the Sky Bet Championship match between Norwich City and Burnley at Carrow Road
Saturday 4 February 2023 17:06, UK
Burnley extended their lead at the top of the Championship to seven points by earning their ninth consecutive league victory with a 3-0 win at Norwich.
Vincent Kompany's side hold a 17-point cushion on third place while Sheffield United, in second, were held to a 0-0 draw at Rotherham.
Norwich helped Burnley on their way to victory when goalkeeper Tim Krul passed straight to Anass Zaroury from a goal kick, and the forward sent the ball back past him into the bottom corner.
The visitors pushed on in the second half, putting the game to bed with two goals in the space of six minutes. Substitute Vitinho headed in from a corner with his first touch just seconds after coming on and then Hjalmar Ekdal turned home from close range at another set piece.
Norwich have made more errors leading to shots on their goal than any other side in the Championship and another one almost led to a Burnley opener within four minutes. Kenny McLean's loose touch on the edge of his own area allowed Nathan Tella to steal the ball before his powerful shot was brilliantly blocked by Grant Hanley.
However, Burnley made sure to captilise on Norwich's next mistake when Krul's pass was cut out by Zaroury and he fired home.
Norwich's best chance came in the 18th minute when Teemu Pukki pulled the ball back from the byline for Kieran Dowell, whose shot was saved by the right leg of Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
Burnley left-back Ian Maatsen impressed throughout with his shot at goal parried away unconvincingly by Krul.
Six yellow cards were dished out in the first half, three for each team, and the scrappy theme continued after the break until Burnley wrapped up the points.
Tella was replaced by Vitinho at a corner and the Brazilian instantly headed home from Johann Gudmundsson's in-swinging delivery before Ekdal stabbed in at another set piece to give Burnley more breathing room at the top.
Norwich's David Wagner:
"We can't expect to win games if we make it as easy as we did for Burnley. They deserved to win the game but we gave away three goals, one with a mistake from the goalkeeper and two from poor defending at set-pieces. No-one likes to lose games but when the reasons behind a defeat are easy to analyse, like they were today, it makes it slightly easier to take.
"After the early goal we had an excellent chance and then there was an obvious handball in the second half which the referee didn't give but overall it was a difficult day for us. We just need to leave this behind us and move on because we have an important three weeks coming up with five games ahead of us."
Burnley's Vincent Kompany:
"Norwich are a team I rate and after their two away wins it doesn't get much tougher in this division than playing them away. We knew what to expect but I thought it was a complete performance from the lads. It was a clean sheet, which was very pleasing, the players were brave on the ball and strong in the tackle and we scored a couple of set-piece goals which is always good.
"Obviously the first goal came from a mistake but I think it reflected the way we started the game. I thought for the first 20 minutes or so we got on top and created a lot of chances and then Norwich got back in it a bit, which we had to deal with. But in the second half we played exactly how I would have wanted us to play and obviously I am delighted with the result."
Norwich travel to Bristol City in the Championship on Saturday February 11. Kick-off is at 3pm.
Burnley host Ipswich in an FA Cup fourth-round replay on Tuesday at 7,45pm before returning to league action on Saturday February 11 at home to Preson North End. Kick-off is at 3pm.
