Norwich City 1-2 Leeds United
Leeds climbed out of the bottom three with a deserved victory over Norwich City as Rodrigo ended a flurry of second-half goals with a priceless winner.
Thanks to a thrilling second half, Premier League: Norwich City vs Leeds United turned out to be a great game for the neutrals, but while the Canaries are still without a win, the fans are celebrating up in West Yorkshire. Following Burnley’s win over Brentford on Saturday both teams started the game in the bottom three but the victory lifted Leeds above the Lancastrians, while Norwich stay rooted to the bottom.
The Norwich City vs Leeds United highlights told a story of an edgy first half and an explosive second as the visitors went 2-1 up in an action-packed five minutes and then held out comfortably to take all three points.
Highlights of the game
Leeds have attacking players with plenty of flair and they cut through the Canaries as early as the seventh minute when Dan James broke through, rounded Tim Krul and slid the ball goalwards only to see Grant Hanley make a goal-line clearance. James may have been marginally offside but Hanley didn’t know that.
Teemu Pukki began the game as Norwich’s only Premier League goalscorer this term and he too began brightly, causing the Leeds’ defence problems and firing a low shot narrowly wide. A late penalty converted by Rodrigo gave Leeds a valuable point against Wolves last week. He’s been a key man for the Whites this season but he got on the wrong side of the referee today when he picked up the opening yellow card for a trip on Mathias Normann. And as the game became a little tetchy Ozan Kabak joined him in the book for a poor challenge on James, but when the free-kick was centred Diego Llorente headed over the bar.
It had been an open half but with few clear cut chances and Rodrigo forced the first save of the match on 43 minutes, seizing on sloppy Norwich defending before firing at Krul at his near post.
The Canaries started the second half positively when Milot Rashica drilled a low shot in which Illan Meslier saved, but then Leeds struck with a moment of quality from Raphinha. He picked up a ball from James with a brilliant first touch and then jinked his way across the box before sliding his shot through the Norwich defence and into the net.
The Canaries hit back immediately when Andrew Omobamidele rose to head home a corner for his first Premier League goal. The home fans celebrated but only for a minute!
This time the veteran Norwich keeper was at fault when Rodrigo fired in a speculative shot which Krul should have saved but he let the ball creep under his arms and into the net.
Leeds were ahead with half an hour remaining and Raphinha came close to extending the lead with a fierce shot which Krul did well to hold on to, and then Hanley a great block to keep out another strike from the Brazilian.
Key statistics
The pre-match Norwich City vs Leeds United betting odds pitched the Whites as favourites with SBOTOP odds of 2.04 and, in the end they were good value, shading the possession and having six shots on target to Norwich’s three.
Norwich came into the match having scored only twice; no Premier League club had scored fewer after nine games, and the Canaries have now lost their last 32 league games when they conceded first.
But at least they have scored a second-half goal for the first time in this campaign.
What’s next?
There’s plenty of action to look forward to in midweek when the Champions League is back on the agenda. And next week, Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites are back at Elland Road to entertain Leicester City. Then, after the International break, Leeds take on another out-of-sorts club when they visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo is under pressure after a home defeat to Manchester United left Spurs in eighth place and ten points off the lead following a sequence of four defeats in six games.
Daniel Farke has led the Canaries to the Premier League twice over the last three seasons and if they are to have any chance of staying up this time around then the next three games are crucial. Next week they visit Brentford. The Bees have made a bright start to life in the top flight but three defeats on the bounce have sent them a message that this will be a long, hard season among the big boys.
Then, after the break, Norwich have two home games in succession, against Southampton and Wolves, both tough opponents but both beatable.
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