Sunderland vs Norwich City. Sky Bet Championship.
Stadium of LightAttendance36,440.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Sunderland and Norwich at the Stadium of Light; Black Cats boss Alex Neil was not in the dugout amid talks with Stoke about becoming their new manager
Saturday 27 August 2022 17:00, UK
Norwich earned a 1-0 victory at Sunderland after Josh Sargent scored his fourth goal of the season.
The hosts were without boss Alex Neil after they allowed him to speak to Stoke over becoming their new manager, with assistant head coach Martin Canning placed in temporary charge.
Neil's absence didn't impact the performance of his side, but they were made to pay for not taking their chances as Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms both hit the woodwork in the second half.
Norwich defended superbly, with Grant Hanley making two superb goal-saving blocks, before Sargent tapped in from close range to snatch the points.
Despite a turbulent 24 hours surrounding their outgoing boss, Sunderland controlled the first half yet were frustrated by Norwich's defending.
Dan Neil and Stewart were denied by brilliant blocks from the visitors before Hanley sent over a fierce volley from Corry Evans with his head in added time.
Norwich did see Sargent force a good save from Anthony Patterson and the striker managed to miss from yards out.
However, Dean Smith's side continued to ride their luck in the second half as Stewart planted a volley onto the crossbar before Alex Pritchard's follow-up was blocked on the line by Hanley. Simms then saw his downwards header from a corner strike a post.
And with 15 minutes left Norwich capitalised on their good fortune as Sargent converted from Aaron Ramsey's low cross to earn their third consecutive win.
Norwich's Dean Smith: "It was a very, very hard-fought win and the resilience we showed pleased me the most. We got some really good blocks in and put our bodies on line to keep the ball out of the net and sometimes you have to do. We had to withstand some pressure at times, which I expected. The fans did really well for their team today and got them up for it.
"They pressed us and galvanised their team and Sunderland pressed and harassed us and they carried out their game plan really well. Whenever we countered we didn't get up the pitch quick enough. When they broke us we had to defend well and the two centre-halves did very well. Grant got a couple of quality blocks in. He is a really good leader of people and he shows what he is all about on the pitch as well."
Norwich are back in action on Tuesday night as they visit Birmingham in a 7.45pm kick-off. Sunderland host Rotherham the following night, also at 7.45pm.
