Norwich head coach David Wagner was delighted to see his side bounce back from a frustrating result at the weekend by beating Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at Carrow Road.
The Canaries lacked a cutting edge in a goalless draw with Preston but took their chances well against the Owls to stay on the fringes of the Championship play-off zone.
“Four days ago I spoke about how frustrated I was about not taking our chances, so to put things right at the very first opportunity is very pleasing and just the way it should be,” Wagner said.
“We scored three wonderful goals, created a lot of other opportunities and also defended well, even though their set pieces caused us one or two problems.
“We scored a great goal early on and could have had more but we didn’t make it easy for ourselves and conceded an equaliser.
“It is always pleasing in those circumstances when you then go on and win the game.
“We responded well to the setback, kept our tempo, kept believing and got the result we deserved.
“We have done well in our last six games, and also did well in the first six games of the season.
“In between could have been better but now we must keep this going, making sure our performances are at a consistent level.
“We now have a big derby game (at Ipswich) and everyone is really looking forward to that.”
Norwich were set on their way by a superb seventh-minute strike from Borja Sainz, who was making his full debut after his summer move to Carrow Road.
He found the top corner with a rising drive from just outside the box to open the scoring, although Wednesday responded well and got back on level terms just past the half-hour mark with a back-post header from teenager Bailey Cadamarteri.
Norwich got their noses in front just after the restart when Ashley Barnes slid home Sainz’s left-wing cross and gave themselves some breathing space after 72 minutes, Jonathan Rowe taking advantage of some poor defending to nod home his ninth of the season.
The defeat brought to an end Wednesday’s mini revival of seven points from a possible nine, but manager Danny Rohl took the result on the chin.
“I am okay with my players after that, even though I am obviously disappointed with the result,” he said.
“Now we must recover and be ready to go again on Saturday when we have another big game (at home to fellow strugglers QPR).
“In each half we had early goals to deal with and that didn’t help us, especially in the second half when we had just changed things.
“I thought we did a lot of things very well, although our pressing wasn’t sharp enough and at times our positioning wasn’t good enough.
“We tried everything but in the end it wasn’t enough and our opponents were better in the box and deserved the win.”
Rohl paid tribute to young goalscorer Cadamarteri, who committed his long-term future to the club earlier this week.
“He now has two goals in four games and clearly is a young player with a lot of potential. He deserves his contract and it proves we are looking to the future at this club.”
Conte hopes for Ranieri's success at Roma after Napoli clash
Antonio Conte hopes that everything will go well for Claudio Ranieri after he came out of retirement to take charge of Roma, but only after their Serie A clash this weekend.
Ranieri was tempted back into management by a return to where he began as a player. His third spell at Roma comes after the club sacked two coaches already this season and with the team 12th in the standings.
A trip to leaders Napoli is Ranieri's first task, and Conte is looking forward to meeting up with the 73-year-old.
"I am pleased to see Claudio, I have great esteem for him and there is also friendship," Conte told reporters ahead of Sunday's game.
"I am happy with the chance he has been given. It will be a tough game, for us and for them. Last year, Roma finished ahead of Napoli, they are in the Europa League and had a good transfer window.
"They are not performing according to expectations and I hope for Claudio that everything starts to work after Sunday's game."
The arrival of Ranieri in place of Ivan Juric brings with it not just the danger of the 'new manager bounce' but also upsets Conte's plans for the game.
"When a team changes coach there is an important input on a nervous level," Conte said.
"They are at the third change on the bench. It's inevitable that, if Juric had remained, we knew what kind of team we were going to face.
"Now it's an enigma, we don't have much information nor do we know how they will deal with us. So let's think about ourselves, there is a desire and enthusiasm to continue this path."
After a streak of 21 consecutive home wins in Serie A, Conte lost his last home league match (0-3 against Atalanta). Only once in his career has he recorded two consecutive home defeats in the competition: in November 2009, when he was in charge of Atalanta (against Juventus and Roma).
Napoli are top of the table, but Conte knows it is still early, and with just two points separating the top six clubs, which includes the likes of Atalanta, Fiorentina and Lazio, for now, it is a different title race than usual.
"Only 12 games have passed and there are many teams within very few points," he said.
"We are doing well, but so are the others. There isn't one team which has distanced the others. Perhaps there is a little amazement in seeing some teams in those positions in the standings."
'It's a shame' - Alonso confirms Leverkusen's Boniface out with thigh injury
Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso confirmed that Victor Boniface will be sidelined for some time after picking up a thigh injury on international duty with Nigeria.
Boniface, who has scored eight goals in 15 appearances in all competitions this season, was replaced late on in the Super Eagles' 2-1 defeat to Rwanda on Monday.
It is another blow for Leverkusen, who have managed 17 points from 10 games so far this season, the worst start to a league campaign in 12 years by a defending champion.
Only Omar Marmoush and Harry Kane (both 11) have scored more goals in the league than Boniface this term (six).
Alonso revealed that the 23-year-old will miss Saturday's Bundesliga encounter against Heidenheim and their Champions League tie against RB Salzburg next week.
"We will have to see how long he will be out. It is a shame," Alonso told a press conference.
"He has a thigh injury. For tomorrow, for Salzburg and maybe a bit longer. We will have to wait and see.
"It is too early to say but we hope he can still play this year. We have to see with the recovery and improvement but it is not a matter of six or eight weeks."
Leverkusen have dropped points in six Bundesliga games already this season (D5, L1), as often as they did during the entirety of their 2023-24 title-winning campaign (D6).
They come into this weekend's fixture against Heidenheim on a three-game winless run in the Bundesliga (D3), the first time they have gone this long without a victory since between April and May 2023 (five games).
Leverkusen sit fourth in the Bundesliga, already nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich as the busy festive schedule kickstarts on Saturday.
Alonso's side have eight games in just under a month, including a DFB-Pokal round of 16 clash with Bayern at the start of December.
"Eight games in four weeks. It is nothing new for us," Alonso said. "An intense phase is coming up for us and it starts tomorrow.
"We have clear goals for the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the German Cup."
Object thrown at City striker 'Bunny' Shaw in Champions League win over Hammarby sparks UEFA investigation
UEFA has opened an investigation after Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw was hit by an object during their Women’s Champions League win against Swedish side Hammarby on Thursday.
The towering Jamaican striker scored both goals in City’s 2-1 win at the Stockholm Arena to see her side through to the quarterfinal stage.
Her animated celebration in front of the home fans after her first goal saw the 27-year-old being booked, with replays also showing an object seemingly thrown her way from the stands.
“Proceedings have been opened against Hammarby IF for throwing of objects (Article 16(2)(b) of the Disciplinary Regulations),” UEFA said in a statement.
“Manchester City player Khadija Shaw received a yellow card following her goal presentation for unsporting conduct,” the statement added.
Following the game, City captain Alex Greenwood chided match broadcaster DAZN for failing to mention the incident in a social media post.
The post on X, external said Shaw “antagonised” the home fans and received “stick” from them.
Greenwood replied, "Correction. Travel to Stockholm, score a big goal. Celebrates her goal. Gets objects thrown at her.”
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
