Buendia sends Norwich towards Premier League return

Rewind to a month ago and Brentford were on the longest unbeaten run in the country, while Norwich’s promotion ambitions took a hit with a worrying 2-0 loss to a fast-approaching Swansea side. Now things are very different, with the Canaries coming into tonight’s top-of-the-table clash on a five-game winning run, while Bees are struggling to recover from three losses in five.

The Action: Continuing recent form, Norwich got off to a flyer, with a brilliant exchange of passes from back to front seeing Teemu Pukki just fire over with a lobbed attempt.

The game became increasingly end-to-end with former Canary, Sergi Canos, stinging the palms of Tim Krul, before he had an incredible chance to open the scoring, scuffing his finish with two-thirds of the goal open after Krul parried a pull-back right into the Spaniard’s path.

It was left to arguably the Championship’s best player to decide the game, with Emi Buendia finding his way in off the right side before guiding a shot past a sprawling David Raya from long range.

Pukki nearly put the game to bed late on with a fine effort from distance, before Ivan Toney’s best chance failed to even trouble Krul.

The Big Picture: Norwich go a gigantic 10 points clear at the top of the table with a six-game winning run, and despite it being another ultra-competitive Championship season, they look destined for an instant return to the top flight under Daniel Farke. Brentford, however, will need to be careful, as a high-quality chasing pack are slowly closing in.

Memorable Moment: Canos’ agonising miss against his former side could have easily been a huge moment for Brentford, instead, Buendia won the match soon after.

Man of the Match: Not just the Man of the Match, but maybe the Man of the Season, as Norwich’s effort in holding onto Buendia continues to reap rewards.

Expected Goals: Norwich (2.24) 1-0 (1.65) Brentford

Quote of the Day: Brentford boss Thomas Frank: “Congratulations to them [Norwich], they will get promoted.”

Stat of the Day: Norwich have the joint-third best ever points total in Championship history after 34 games with 73 points.

Congratulations to Norwich, they will get promoted 😳

Brentford manager Thomas Frank with high praise for #NCFC 👀 pic.twitter.com/bz8yGgg50f

— Talk Norwich City (@TalkNorwichCity) March 3, 2021