Norwich dominate Hull to end long wait for home win

Posted Wednesday, February 15, 2023 by PA

Norwich finally gave the Carrow Road faithful something to cheer as they turned in a dominant display to beat Hull 3-1 in a one-sided Championship clash.

The Canaries had gone eight matches without a home win before tonight, with their previous success coming way back on October 29 when they saw off Stoke 3-1.

It looked as though it was going to be another uncomfortable evening when Jacob Greaves fired the visitors into an early lead but that proved to be their only effort on target and once Kieran Dowell had equalised four minutes later there was only one team in it.

Gabriel Sara capped an impressive display by firing the hosts in front just before the hour mark and a late goal from Josh Sargent gave the final scoreline a more realistic look.

The Canaries, with joint top scorer Teemu Pukki on the bench, made a bright start to the game but were stunned as Hull took the lead on 14 minutes.

When Ryan Woods’ corner was only half-cleared, Regan Slater headed the ball back into the danger area and with keeper Angus Gunn unable to gather, Benjamin Tetteh’s nod on was lashed home by skipper Greaves.

It was poor defending from the hosts but they were soon back on the front foot and took just four minutes to get back on level terms.

Winger Onel Hernandez was the architect, making one of his trademark dashes down the left flank to get to the byline before pulling the ball back for Dowell to slide home via a big deflection off Greaves, who was quickly brought back down to earth with a bump.

Norwich went on to dominate the remainder of half but were kept largely at arm’s length by an in-form Hull side who had lost only one of their previous 10 league games.

Adam Idah sent a header over from a Max Aarons cross and Sargent saw a shot deflected wide as the Tigers defended in determined fashion.

David Wagner’s side continued to have the better of it after the break and deservedly got their noses in front on 58 minutes through Brazilian midfielder Sara.

Hernandez once again came up with an eye-catching assist, showing some neat footwork in the area before setting up Sara who did the rest with an unstoppable low shot into the bottom corner.

The hosts thought they had made it 3-1 minutes later as Grant Hanley headed home from close range but the Scotland international was denied by an offside flag.

Two big chances then went begging as the Canaries piled on the pressure, with Dimitrios Giannoulis shooting straight at Matt Ingram when he might have done better and Dowell sidefooting wide after being put clean through by Idah.

Hull were unable to make any impact at the other end, however, and the home side wrapped up the points in the 89th minute when Sargent made it 11 for the season with an emphatic finish after putting put in by Sara.