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.

Photo: TWTD

blueherts added 16:40 - Feb 10 Has Lambert REALLY made a difference ? Apart from being a PR man Tactically ,defensively , offensively , transfer window ? Discuss ? Which areas of our team and overall play has be actually improved Who has he bought in that shows he will improve things remember Collins was a Hurst option We are down and I think we will do OK in Div One as we have some great young players Just not sold on Lambert yet and today did not reinforce anything

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SickParrot added 17:00 - Feb 10 Just another routine defeat to Norwich and only 3 nil, so no big deal. Thought we played ok after a dodgy first 10 minutes. Typifies our season. Plenty of effort and possession but very little to offer in the final third and gifting goals away.
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Wishing4arightback added 17:01 - Feb 10 Just watched Chambers interview on the town Twitter page. All he goes on about is Passion, playing through the pain, how more people in the squad should do it! Personally I would prefer he stays quiet, stops making mistakes and defends without just lumping the ball or trying to lump a player, his reading of the game is so poor he even now he even cocks that up! Klugg has always has been spot on with youngsters, he rated Wolfenden and Chris Smith, neither get anywhere with us now, and both much better than Chambers!!

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inghamspur added 17:02 - Feb 10 Premier League v League One today with the expected outcome. We can't score or even create chances so that's why we're going down.
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Nobbysnuts added 17:12 - Feb 10 Well I expected 5-0 or worse so all in all a cracking result!!!😁😁😁
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algarvefan added 17:17 - Feb 10 bluemike1969 think you are spot on mate, I was ashamed at Lambert today and the talk he gave afterwards, it's the kind of reaction you would expect from Roy Keane. I'm with you send most of the loan players back and promote from the U.23's they couldn't be any worse and at least they would hit the ground running next season.
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Lightningboy added 17:24 - Feb 10 @blueherts Totally agree re Nolan - he must be one of the biggest flops in itfc history - really thought he'd be a good signing but has been dreadful..just looks totally disinterested every time i've seen him. First out of the door for me this summer. We need warriors and goalscorers in midfield in the Magilton mould.
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bluemike1969 added 17:25 - Feb 10 Algarvefan. I've watched the under 23s this season and they play with passion and determination. Nydam is a true blue and loves the club. Give the likes of him and others a go now so they are prepared for the fight next season. Or maybe you and I are wrong.... Personally I don't think so my friend!
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RobITFC added 17:28 - Feb 10 Totally sums up our season ,cannot score and give away silly goals. Possession wise we looked alright and Norwich do not seem to be that good a side but are getting results, that is what counts at the end of the day. We will go down and need to start re-building for League 1 , in the meantime I just hope Norwich get found out in the remaining games and miss out on automatic and then get to the play-off final and lose on penalties.. hahahaha fingers crossed :)

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RobITFC added 18:15 - Feb 10 Thought Bree was very poor at right back, another poor loan signing
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Saxonblue74 added 18:16 - Feb 10 Bluemike, you're correct that it's just your opinion. People marking you down (not me incidentally!) are just having theirs! It was no shock to lose today. We are bottom of the league with 3 wins all season and now 42 points between us and the team we played today. Personally, I think we put in a good shift today against a far superior side and managed to make them look ordinary for the most part. We need a goal scorer, simple as that. I enjoyed our bookings and Lambo's sending off, it makes a refreshing change to see that it's not just the fans who care about this fixture! For the first time I believe the PR from players and staff about the "positive vibe" at the club. Chalobah, Freddie, Keane, Harrison, Teddy, I thought all played very well. Nolan went AWOL for long periods but I thought all others did OK. And if Lambert is so clearly not the man for the job then please, lets hear some alternatives, a very short list I would imagine?!

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portmanteau added 18:22 - Feb 10 No good being too blind. Norwich outplayed us most of the time, their forwards switching the ball around so fast we could not keep up and when we managed to get near their box their defence was just too quick and clever for us. No disgrace losing to a better team. Town deserve praise for this performance haven't seen such a will to win for years. Stay with 4 3 3 and repeat for next 15 games....

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Pedlarjak added 18:32 - Feb 10 We all agree that the patient is very sick. As far as the championship is concerned, the condition is terminal. What is really worrying is that the doctor in charge keeps saying "it's going very well" when it is very obvious that it is not going well. Until the right observations are made - there's not much hope of the right corrective actions being put into place.
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budgieplucker added 18:38 - Feb 10 Our plight is one of immense frustration to put it lightly. PL has galvanised the club over the last 3 months but perhaps we needed more than a “little help” which I think many of us had already worked out. Waghorn, McGoldrick, Webster and Celina have continued to show that they are very good players at Championship level and to a lesser extent Garner but still a player capable of getting double figures in scoring goals. Even with those players last year overall the balance of the squad brought us down to a mid table team at best. Loose those players and some 45 goals then that is a big gap to fill even playing a style of football at the time which wasn't pleasing on the eye. The experienced players we retained have struggled and continue to make mistakes. Of course the other player we have lost is Bart, he is not the same goalkeeper. The worrying thing is if you look back over the years many exceptionally good goalkeepers (not specifically talking ITFC) have had poor spells of form that they have never really recovered from. Richard Wright at Arsenal, Mervyn Day at West Ham and probably a name few on here few will recognise as this goes back a long time ago but Welsh International and Leeds goalkeeper Gary Sprake accidentally threw the ball into his own net and never recovered. However PL has had his hands tied and realistically could we have expected any better in the January transfer window? Judge, Collins and Keane at least add more experience and probably more quality when fully match fit and once fully gelled in. We have to stick behind the manager and have a bit of faith that eventually the style and identity that he is trying to instill will pay dividends albeit unlikely this season now. The answer is not throwing in all the kids and just use the players who we know will be here next year. I understand the thought process about using the rest of season as an early preseason to improve the players that will be with us for the next campaign, but I think it is right in trying to utilise the experience players we have to help develop the style and keep the fight going providing the scaffold to bring in one or two youngsters now and again. Yes we still remain poor in each box and yes that may mainly be down to lack of quality but the fight was there today and at times we didn't look a bottom of the table team. We do need a massive amount of luck to have any chance of survival which I think we all now think is not going to happen, but I thought the whole season could have completely collapsed this afternoon. We did at least get a good referee for the first time in a longtime. We do need some Championship quality players in Division 1 and I would still be very much open minded to try and recruit Judge and Keane for that battle provide the team can demonstrate a fighting attitude right to the end and maybe some visible progress towards an improving team.

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happybeingblue added 18:40 - Feb 10 not sure why farke is saying we tried to unsettle them as though we are a team of kickers its a local derby what does he expect? they got 4 yellow cards and we got 3 so ... most of their overseas players were playacting throughout the game,we played a lot of the football for most parts, the difference was in the finishing at both ends,the sending offs were a bit unnecessary, and their fans didnt sing until they went 3 nil up so they clearly werent comfortable with the way the game was going.

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ian_marshall added 18:52 - Feb 10 Boys done well today scoreline bit harsh!
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Zondervantheman added 18:57 - Feb 10 Felt sorry for Keane today won his headers and held the ball up but nothing there to help him out. Chalobah is a centre half playing in midfield and it shows, Nolan an Skuse put a shift in but that's all you can say, when bishop came on he was asking questions and all they could was foul him.. Chambers and Knudson were the weak links during the mm days and nothing has changed. If we don't win Wednesday give up all hope of staying up and let's blood our very promising youngsters,,

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RobsonWark added 19:05 - Feb 10 We outplayed Norwich today but we have no idea when we get near the 18 yard box. I love Lambert as a manager. He is the best we have had for many years but I didn't agree with his striker signings in January. Why bring in strikers that have hardly ever scored for their previous teams when we need goal scorers? As for Chambers? Enough said. Get out of our club.
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warktheline added 19:18 - Feb 10 Reference : Lambert showing similar traits to Keane! No surprise there folks, people have very short memories, he never as Norwich manager showed an ounce of respect towards Ipswich! That's the 'real' Lambert, he wants to win regardless of who he upsets outside of his 'bubble'! Word of advice Lambert, 'burst that inner bubble'.....fed up of hearing 'everyone around the club are walking around happy, and have to check the Championship table to actually believe the club currently sit rock bottom of it!'

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blueherts added 19:30 - Feb 10 Final word - as a leader Lambert should have risen above the situation - It was a bad foul by a wasate of a space of a player Nolan - why he was even starting ahead of Bishop is totally beyond me Lambert let us the club down , as our Manager he should not get drawn into a scrap - regardless of what people may think of Farke etc - I think Lambert looks clueless at the moment . With a pre season behind him in Div One that may change - but not sure who we can bring in and sell - Just play the younger players and ship out loans - I agree- We cannot be much worst

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Toronto_Tractor added 19:40 - Feb 10 bluemike1969 I dont think you are a genuine supporter
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brittaniaman added 19:51 - Feb 10 I have said before, it is a great pity we could not have tried to get Pope or Heaton on loan from Burnley, But Dyche has found out Hart was useless, so he put Heaton back in and they have never looked back since, Pope is still sitting in the stands ? I know this nothing to do with ITFC. I Just wanted to mention it. What happened about the Player who tapped Chalobah then rolled over on the ground as though he had been shot by a Sniper ?? COYBs.let us get going again on Wednesday !!!!

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Bert added 20:04 - Feb 10 Lambert needs to behave professionally as do many of the sour, abuse ridden posters on here. We lost as expected but had Waghorn been here it might have been a different story today. Is Lambert the right manager for us in League One ? Yes, but he needs to stop congratulating himself on the way he has restored some spirit at the club. Ok at the beginning but it's points that matter now and next season.

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dirtydingusmagee added 20:04 - Feb 10 We lost, we always lose , supporters must be punch drunk now.
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Northstandveteran added 20:10 - Feb 10 Positives, We didn't lose by as many as I thought we would We weren't humiliated. Negatives, 3 - 0 is a sound beating no matter how you look at it. We are a very poor side.
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