Stoke City vs Norwich City; Sky Bet Championship
Stoke City vs Norwich City. Sky Bet Championship.
Bet365 Stadium.
Stoke 1-0 Norwich: Ethan Galbraith earns vital win for Potters
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Stoke City and Norwich City at the bet365 Stadium on Tuesday night; Ethan Galbraith scores the only goal to earn a vital win for the Potters.
Tuesday 1 September 2026 23:24, UK
Ethan Galbraith earned Stoke their first points of the Championship season with a 1-0 victory over Norwich at the bet365 Stadium.
The Potters had lost all three of their opening league games, including Saturday's 4-1 loss at Wolves, conceding nine goals in the process.
Stoke had only won three times in the league since Norwich's 1-0 victory at the bet365 on January 4, a run of 23 games.
After picking up their first win of the season with an impressive 4-1 victory over Burnley on Saturday, Norwich were condemned to their third defeat in four matches, leaving them also with just three points.
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The hosts were without talismanic winger Sorba Thomas as he closed in on a move to newly promoted Hull, as the Potters switched to a three-at-the-back system that saw Luke Graham and Million Manhoef included in the starting line-up.
Despite their dismal start to the season, Stoke had found themselves ahead in four of their five games in all competitions and did so again after 13 minutes through Galbraith.
Eric Bocat's low cross was deflected into the path of the ex-Manchester United midfielder, who unleashed a sweet strike from outside the box which cannoned off Jack Stacey and into the bottom corner.
It had been a slow start from the Canaries, but Philippe Clement's side sprung into life with 10 minutes remaining of the first half when Darlin Yongwa, starting a Championship game for the first time, stung the palms of Viktor Johansson.
Mohamed Toure and Andre Brooks had scored a brace each in Norwich's 4-1 rout against Burnley at the weekend and when they combined to set Brooks free one-on-one with Johansson, it looked destined to be 1-1.
The Swede stood firm and his outstretched right leg denied Brooks from seven yards out.
Canaries captain Kenny McLean then bent his effort inches wide of the post as Stoke were forced to endure a Norwich onslaught.
At the other end, it was Vladan Kovacevic's turn to pull off an impressive save as he stood tall to keep Manhoef out.
Brooks was then denied again by Johansson as an end-to-end first half was brought to a close.
Norwich had enjoyed over 70 per cent possession but had only mustered two second-half shots when Stoke almost caught them on the counter.
Substitutes Robert Bozenik and Sam Gallagher combined to play in deadline-day signing Luca Bombino, who cut inside and forced Kovacevic to tip his effort over the crossbar.
Norwich began to knock on the door when Oscar Schwartau blazed wide before McLean's deflected effort was pushed wide by Johansson, while the Sweden international also gathered Anthony Musaba's tame header.
The visitors had Ruairi McConville to thank as he slid in to prevent a certain Stoke second in the closing moments, but the Potters held on to claim a vital first victory of the season.
The managers
Stoke's Mark Robins:
"I think you've seen the team galvanised, and they deserve an enormous amount of credit because we've not had the chance to work on a great deal.
"We've worked it, we've looked at things, not had too much chance to practise it, but I thought they stuck to the task pretty well.
"Let's face it, they had miles more of the ball but we know in this division it doesn't make any difference how much of the ball you have, so if you can't use the ball well enough then so what?
"But we are better than we have shown, and we tried to be better in the games that we've lost. This season we've started with three really difficult games.
"They deserve an enormous amount of credit because of the pressure around. Nobody's getting carried away, it's three points, but the manner of the performance and the way the supporters got behind the players was brilliant, and they really deserved that."
Norwich's Philippe Clement:
"I think all game we were the dominant team, the best team on the ball, the team getting the best chances.
"But you lose a game on a transition moment, and there were a few other transition moments that we defended really well.
"You need to win these games, and you need a little bit of luck in football, that's the case. For us, it's the job to prepare the team well so that we can be dominant, that we can create the most chances, that we can have most of the ball, but that's less important in general.
"In football you can also win games by having the best chances (while) having less possession.
"The possession difference was really big today, the creation of chances with Stoke was really big today, but they get the three points in the end and they are the cruel things that happen in football.
"One of those days, and frustrating, but you need to make a good analysis. I was very disappointed, close to angry, after our Millwall game because we didn't show our identity, we didn't play a good game or deserve the points, that was clear.
"Every neutral supporter will say that Norwich had to win this game, that's clear.
"You need to praise their goalkeeper also. He played a really good game with several good saves, so he played a really strong game and that stopped us also."
