Norwich made it six Championship wins on the spin as they saw off Bristol City 3-2 in an entertaining clash at Carrow Road.
A brace from Teemu Pukki and a sixth of the season from strike partner Josh Sargent set up a hard-fought win for the hosts, who closed the gap on leaders Sheffield United to a single point.
Tommy Conway and Antoine Semenyo scored for the visitors, who battled well after falling 2-0 behind early on.
A clash of the Championship’s two in-form sides got off to a bright start, with Conway firing just wide for the visitors inside the first minute after a Sam Byram pass had gone astray.
But it was the Canaries who got their noses in front after 11 minutes when Pukki capitalised on some poor defending to score his second goal of the season.
A lofted free-kick from Kenny McLean should have been dealt with by Kal Naismith, but the Robins defender missed his header and Pukki nipped in to lift the ball over the advancing Dan Bentley before nodding into an unguarded net.
There was another example of just what an excellent finisher Pukki 12 minutes later when Norwich’s top scorer for the last four seasons added another beautifully taken effort.
The luckless Naismith was again at fault as his midfield pass was intercepted in the centre circle and Aaron Ramsey put Pukki away, with the Finland international running through and squeezing the ball past Bentley at the goalkeeper’s near post.
It was tough on Nigel Pearson’s side, who had been playing well in between the two big mistakes, but they continued to push forward and after Jay Dasilva had been denied by a last-gasp block from Max Aarons they finally got the goal they deserved a minute before the break.
Centre-back Rob Atkinson set the ball rolling with a burst from deep before slipping in Nahki Wells on the left and the striker’s inch-perfect cross was headed home from close range by Conway.
Home keeper Tim Krul plucked a powerful header from Wells out of the air early in the second half as the Robins went looking for a leveller although clear-cut chances were at a premium at both ends in an increasingly tight encounter.
Norwich gave themselves some breathing space when they added a third in the 65th minute after winning a corner on the left. The delivery from recently introduced substitute Gabriel Sara was spot-on and the in-form Sargent was perfectly placed to nod home from the edge of the six yard box.
Bentley produced a point-blank save to deny Pukki a hat-trick following a scramble at another corner, but it was soon game on again as the battling visitors once more reduced the arrears.
The Canaries were guilty of overplaying at the back and when Marcelino Nunez was caught in the possession the ball fell kindly for substitute Semenyo who fired home between Krul’s legs to make it 3-2.
In a frantic finish Danel Sinani was thwarted by Bentley after being put clean through while at the other end Bristol City huffed and puffed but could not find the equaliser they probably deserved.
