Two second-half Teemu Pukki goals and Onel Hernandez’s early opener saw Norwich City beat the Blues 3-0 at Carrow Road as Town continue their long wait for a derby victory. Hernandez put the Canaries in front in the second minute of a first half which saw Blues boss Paul Lambert and Norwich head of performance Chris Domogalla red-carded after the teams and staffs clashed in the closing stages. Town were the better side for much of the second half before Pukki goals on 65 and 81 sealed the win for the top of the table Norfolk side.
Skipper Luke Chambers, outcast left-back Jonas Knudsen, Trevoh Chalobah, Jon Nolan and Will Keane all returned to the Blues side but centre-half James Collins remained unavailable due to his hamstring injury.
Chambers, who missed the Sheffield Wednesday match due to a foot problem, partnered Matthew Pennington at the heart of the defence with James Bree at right-back and returning-to-the-fold Knudsen, who last played at QPR on Boxing Day having indicated he'd like to move on in January and who netted home and away in East Anglian derbies in 2016/17, on the left. Toto Nsiala dropped to the bench, while Myles Kenlock was missing from the 18.
In midfield, Cole Skuse was joined by Chalobah and Nolan with Teddy Bishop and Flynn Downes on the bench.
Up front, Keane started in the centre with Freddie Sears playing a more than usually advanced role on his left and Alan Judge more central with Collin Quaner not among the subs.
Norwich, second in the Championship following yesterday's games, were unchanged from the team which beat new leaders Leeds United 3-1 last week with ex-Blues striker Jordan Rhodes on the bench.
Prior to kick-off, with rain falling heavily, the Town support unveiled banners bearing the slogans ‘Fans not criminals’ and ‘Farke the police’ in reference to the draconian security measures put in place for away supporters for the match.
Town got off to the worst possible start with the Canaries taking the lead in the second minute. The Blues failed to clear Max Aarons’s cross from the right, Hernandez’s shot was blocked but the ball was headed back across the box by Mario Vrancic and the German turned home from close range.
Having got their noses in front and their tails up, Norwich continued to take the game to the Blues. On six Emi Buendia crossed from the left and Vrancic nodded well wide.
Two minutes later, Aarons got round the back of Knudsen on the Norwich right but Pukki stabbed wide at the near post.
Town took a while to get into the game but in the 16th minute they won two corners on the right. From the first Judge played a low ball in to Skuse, whose effort was blocked. Then, from the subsequent flag-kick, Chambers headed over.
On 20, after a promising Blues attack down the left had ultimately comer to nothing, Vrancic curled over from the edge of the box following a Canaries break.
But Town were starting to dominate play. On 23 a long spell of possession led to Judge hitting a shot from 20 yards which was blocked.
Three minutes later, Christoph Stiepermann shot wide with a powerful effort from the edge of the box, before play moved back to the other end with Judge overhitting a pass in for Keane inside the area.
The Blues were well in the game, however, with Judge becoming increasingly influential and moments later Chalobah shot over from the 18-yard line. On 32 Skuse was shown the first yellow card of the game for a foul on Vrancic having been spoken to earlier by referee Peter Bankes about a previous transgression.
Keane made the most of some hesitant Norwich defending in the 39th minute to tee-up Judge but the former Brentford man’s shot was little trouble for Tim Krul in the home goal. Two minutes later, Pennington slid in to prevent a through ball from reaching Pukki.
In the 42nd minute the Blues were forced into a substitution with Sears, who had hurt his knee in a challenge a few minutes earlier, making way for Ellis Harrison.
Moments after being introduced, the ex-Bristol Rovers frontman was involved as the Blues battled their way to a chance in the box, Judge eventually hitting a low shot from a tight angle which deflected behind.
Norwich were forced into a change just before the break with Vrancic succumbing to a knee injury which had hampered him all half.
Moments before the whistle the game erupted after Norwich’s players reacted to a Nolan challenge on Aarons. Judge in particular was shoved by Canaries players, then as the melee was beginning to subside there was a clash between some of the Norwich staff and Town players including Harrison.
Seemingly as a result, Canaries head of performance Chris Domogalla and Blues boss Lambert were involved in an exchange which saw the two of them separated by stewards with a police officer subsequently moving the Town boss away from altercation.
Eventually, when order had been restored, referee Bankes showed a yellow card to Nolan for his challenge and reds to Domogalla and Lambert, much to the delight of his old supporters in the home stands.
There was no time for further action before the whistle ended a half which Town won’t have been too unhappy with, aside from the early goal and their manager having been sent to the stands.
Having given away the lead in the second minute, the Blues weathered the Norwich storm which followed and had been in control for spells, albeit without having been able to carve out anything more than a half-chance.
Norwich had also had periods on top and had had the more dangerous moments in and around the area, however, without Bartosz Bialkowski having been forced into a serious save. Despite being behind at half-time Town remained very much in the match.
Boss Lambert took a seat next to general manager football operations Lee O’Neill and fitness coach Jim Henry in the stand ahead of the second half.
The Blues were first to seriously threaten after the restart in the 54th minute. After Chambers had taken the ball away from Hernandez as he broke through towards goal, Town counter-attacked with Chalobah finding Harrison on the right. The sub crossed low and the ball was bundled behind at the near post ahead of Keane.
Town continued to push and on 58 Norwich skipper Zimmermann did superbly to slide in and block Harrison’s shot from the right of the box after he had been played in by Chalobah. Two minutes later, Jamal Lewis was booked for pulling back Chalobah.
The Blues were well in control but without having carved out the chance which would get them back on terms. On 63 Norwich sub Tettey scuffed wide after Knudsen’s clearing header had fallen to him on the edge of the box.
Norwich’s victory was all but sealed in the 66th minute when Judge shot low just past Krul’s right post and then the Canaries doubled their lead.
Buendia played a pass from the right for Pukki to run on to and the Finn struck a low shot across Bialkowski and into the net.
Norwich should have made it 3-0 in the 70th minute when through two against one with Pennington grounded. However, Stiepermann’s pass to the unmarked Pukki was blocked by Chambers.
The Canaries had the ball in the net again in the 73rd minute when Pukki added a perhaps unnecessary final touch after Zimmermann had flicked on a corner from the right. Moments later, Town switched Skuse for Teddy Bishop.
On 76 Tom Trybull was booked for fouling Bishop, then three minutes later Stiepermann was also yellow-carded for tripping the sub, who signed a new contract yesterday.
With 1-0 minutes on the clock, the Canaries made it 3-0 with Pukki stabbing past the advancing Bialkowski from close range from Buendia’s ball through.
Downes took over from Nolan for the final five minutes with the Canaries replacing Stiepermann with Todd Cantwelll, then former Blue Rhodes for double-goalscorer Pukki.
The game erupted again seconds before the end of scheduled time after Downes had fouled Buendia on the halfway line. The Blues midfielder and Norwich sub Todd Cantwell were both booked.
There was no further action before referee Bankes ended yet another derby disappointment for the Blues, who following the weekend’s matches are now nine points plus goal difference from safety at the bottom of the table.
Having gone down to the early goal, the Town fans in the Jarrold Stand, who remained in good voice throughout, might have feared an even bigger defeat but they held off the early storm and the first period was ultimately an even enough affair.
The Blues had most of the ball for much of the first half but crucially without being able to create a serious chance to get them back on terms, a problem week in, week out for Town.
Norwich, however, bided their time and when they got the ball in Town’s half, they created opportunities for Pukki, who took his total for the season to 21 and claimed derby bragging rights once again, although 3-0 flattered the home side somewhat on the balance of the game overall.
Town will hope to bounce back from the result and make up some ground in their increasingly desperate attempt to avoid relegation when they host Derby County at Portman Road on Wednesday.
Norwich: Krul, Aarons, Zimmermann (c), Godfrey, Lewis, Vrancic (Tettey 45), Trybull, Buendia, Stiepermann (Cantwell 85) , Hernandez, Pukki (Rhodes 88). Unused: McGovern, McLean, Hanley, Srbeny.
Town: Bialkowski, Bree, Chambers (c), Pennington, Knudsen, Skuse (Bishop 74), Chalobah, Nolan (Downes 85), Sears (Harrison 43), Judge, Keane. Unused: Gerken, Jackson, Bishop, Nsiala, Elder. Referee: Peter Bankes (Merseyside). Att: 27,040.