Plymouth Argyle vs Norwich City; Sky Bet Championship
Plymouth Argyle vs Norwich City. Sky Bet Championship.
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Plymouth Argyle 2-1 Norwich City: Ryan Hardie double boosts Pilgrims slim survival hopes
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Plymouth Argyle and Norwich City at Home Park on Saturday; Ryan Hardie double steers Pilgrims to win that boosts slim survival hopes.
Saturday 5 April 2025 18:39, UK
Basement club Plymouth claimed a surprise 2-1 home win over play-off hopefuls Norwich thanks to Scottish striker Ryan Hardie's two first-half goals.
Hardie struck in the 24th and 29th minutes and despite a 46th-minute reply from in-form Josh Sargent, Argyle held on for an unlikely victory.
Argyle central defender Nikola Katic had his first-minute header from a Kornel Szucs long throw-in easily saved by City keeper Angus Gunn.
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Home keeper Conor Hazard had a let-off in the third minute after he slipped while trying to clear a pass back to him, regaining his feet just in time to clear from incoming City striker Borja Sainz.
Hazard and the home defence had another let-off in the ninth minute as City left-back Jack Stacey skipped past marker Bali Mumba before firing a cross across the face of goal.
In the 12th minute Norwich came even closer to scoring as Sargent latched on to Ante Crnac's cross from the right but the striker's effort flew wide from close range.
Hazard had to palm away Marcelino Nunez's 15th-minute angled strike as he latched on to a deft pass from Sainz after Stacey again found space and time from the byline down the right.
Totally against the run of play Argyle scored in the 24th minute after City had cleared their lines.
The ball fell to Argyle skipper Adam Randell and his lofted ball into the penalty area was brilliantly taken down by top scorer Hardie on his right foot and swept past Gunn with his left.
Hardie doubled Plymouth's lead in the 29th minute after a combination of Shane Duffy and Kellen Fisher blocked Mustapha Bundu's shot on the run.
With all three on the floor, Scottish ace Hardie collected the ball, picked his spot in the far corner and again fired home past Gunn.
Hardie was causing Norwich all sorts of problems and it took a strong tackle by Jose Cordoba to deny him in the 39th minute.
From Matthew Sorinola's corner, Katic volleyed just wide at the far post.
At the other end Hazard made a brilliant two-handed save in the top corner to keep out Nunez's brilliant wind-assisted 20-yard free-kick as half-time approached.
It only took a minute of the second half for City's in-form striker Sargent to find the back of the net, with a thumping volleyed finish to greet Fisher's cross from the right at the far post.
Argyle had failed to clear the danger down the left with Sainz's mesmerising run leaving Argyle defenders in his wake before passing out to Fisher on the right.
Player of the match Hardie had to clear an effort from a Norwich corner off the line in the 75th minute.
In the 87th minute he came within a whisker of completing his hat-trick but despite stretching just failed to turn Bundu's cross past Gunn.
The managers
Plymouth's Miron Muslic:
"Finally we rewarded ourselves. We knew the importance of the game. We just had to win. It's all about the sacrifice, giving it our all and we have a chance.
"We have spoken about momentum a lot in these last few weeks and the first goal gave us that.
"The Green Army just jumped on it, then we got a second goal and the first half was probably the best 45 we have played in the past few weeks.
"Remember I told you all about missing Ryan Hardie for five games. We missed him for so many games as he is a reliable goal scorer, a source of goals.
"He only needs half a chance and get him in those positions, he can get you goals. He is clinical.
"Just 30 seconds after the start of the second half we conceded a goal. Then the pressure was on. The pressure was massive and that's why I am proud of the team. We managed to keep Norwich away from our goal.
"It's a step forward for us. Everything feels a little bit better after a win. Now we move on to Wednesday with a little more hope."
Norwich's Johannes Hoff Thorup:
"We have to do better. It's too easy to score against us. This cannot continue. The first 20 minutes we completely killed the momentum of the game and then they score.
"A couple of minutes after a throw in our own half leads to another goal to them. Then the momentum, after two goals, completely swings.
"I was not satisfied with our position on the ball. When we lost the ball we were a little bit loose.
"I thought our positions on the ball in the second half were much better. We probably should have scored 10-15 minutes after the goal because we had shots on goal and won corners. The game became too open in the last 10 minutes, later in the game.
"There will be tough decisions to be made after this season. The way going forward for us is to be an offensive team. We talk about our league position but we still have the top scorer in the league (Borja Sainz) and Josh is third top scorer."
