Farke pleased to get Norwich up and running

Posted Thursday, August 23, 2018 by PA

Norwich manager Daniel Farke was pleased to see his side’s persistence pay off as they scored two late goals to beat Preston 2-0 and seal their first SkyBet Championship win of the season.

The game appeared to be heading for a draw at Carrow Road when Teemu Pukki and Alex Tettey struck in the last 10 minutes to get the Canaries up and running in the league.

Farke admitted it was a relief to finally get three points in the bag after a poor start the campaign, which saw them draw with Birmingham before losing to West Brom and Sheffield United.

“We had only taken one point in our opening three games and conceded eight goals, so it was important that we kept a clean sheet tonight,” he said.

“That probably accounted for the fact that we were not at our best in the first half. We didn’t create much against a side who don’t give you many chances but we defended well, stuck together and then we were able to push on at the end.

“We played better at Birmingham and drew, and we played better against West Brom and lost. But in football it’s about getting results and we were able to force a result tonight, which I am very pleased about.

“We had a bit of luck at times but I think we earned that in the first three games.”

The hosts, who had been largely on the back foot throughout, took the lead in the 80th minute through Pukki, who broke the deadlock with a smart low finish into the far corner.

It was rough justice on Preston, who had hit the bar minutes earlier, and their misery was compounded when Tettey fired in from 25 yards to seal the points and send Farke home happy.

It was a different story for Preston boss Alex Neil, who said his side only had themselves to blame for not coming away with a positive result from his former club.

“We had three or four really good chances before they scored their first goal, “ he said. “You will generally get punished in this game if you don’t put your chances away. Norwich took theirs, we didn’t and we have lost the game.

“We couldn’t do much about the second goal but I was really disappointed with the first one. We switched off at a throw and allowed them to get a ball behind us – we should have been alert to it and they have gone and punished us.

“It was a frustrating night for us because we played well at times, especially for 30 minutes in the second half.

“We have come away with nothing and now have four points from four games, which is a disappointing start if I am being honest.”