Manager Daniel Farke described his Norwich side as “the team of the moment in the Championship” after an impressive 3-1 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
Teemu Pukki fired the Canaries in front after six minutes from a Marco Stiepermann pass and doubled the advantage eight minutes later with the aid of a deflection after latching onto Jacob Sorensen’s long ball.
Seconds later Jack Hunt pulled a goal back from Bristol, firing home from Jamie Paterson’s cross to the far post.
But in first-half stoppage time Emi Buendia produced a brilliant first touch to control a long ball from Ben Gibson before slotting past Dan Bentley.
Bristol were awarded a 73rd-minute penalty when Tomas Kalas was brought down by Sorensen but Nahki Wells chipped his spot-kick over the crossbar.
Farke said: “Thirteen points from the last five games is fantastic and makes us the team of the moment in the Championship.
“This was a very difficult away game and we fully deserved to win. We talked about being more clinical in front of goal because we had created so many chances in our earlier matches without taking enough of them.
“Today we have seen three great assists by Stiepermann, Sorensen and Gibson and some wonderful first touches to help turn them into goals.
“Tim Krul has made a couple of important saves but he is the best goalkeeper in the league so I expect that of him.
“Every club relegated out of the Premier League suffers as a result and some find it hard to adjust to the Championship.
“But, working with my players every day, I know they are growing as a group and a team.
“I would have liked us to exert more control in the second half and maybe scored a fourth goal because you only have to switch off a couple of times for a two-goal lead to disappear.
“We gave away penalty and there is certainly room for improvement. But I am very pleased with the result and the performance.”
The result put Norwich firmly among the early Championship pace-setters, while for Bristol it was a fifth successive game without a win.
Robins boss Dean Holden said: “We were far too open and easy to score against.
“That isn’t like us because we have looked pretty solid in the games up to now. But we have work to do to get back to where we want to be.
“Going forward, we were always a threat and the save Tim Krul made from Chris Martin’s header was out of the top drawer.
“But we had things to sort out at half time because their third goal was a sucker punch. I felt we got a response to what was said.
“Nahki is disappointed with his penalty. He didn’t execute it properly and it was a vital moment in the game.
“Had we scored then, there would have been time to get an equaliser.
“We had momentum for much of the match and caused a lot of problems to a team fresh down from the Premier League.
“But we cannot defend like that and expect to win games. It has been a tough little run for us, but you have to expect difficult games in the Championship.
“We are still well placed after our good start and need to get back to winning ways quickly.”
