The Canaries are back in the Premier League, and they've gone up in impressive fashion. After bettering local rivals Ipswich Town in the playoff semifinal, Norwich City put together a convincing performance at Wembley Stadium on Monday to beat Middlesbrough 2-0 and clinch their place in the top flight.
Norwich City defeat Middlesbrough 2-0 in playoff final, promoted to Premier League
They’ve yo-yo’d back to the top flight a year after their relegation.
Tom Dulat/Getty Images
Both sides hit the bar early, suggesting that this might be a wild match. Bradley Johnson nearly scored with a strike from the edge of the box that rattled the crossbar in the 10th minute, and Middlesbrough smacked it just one minute later, with Jelle Vossen unlucky not to score. But what looked like an even game quickly turned in Norwich’s favor, and they were up by two goals quickly.
Cameron Jerome fired Norwich into the lead in the 12th minute after picking the ball off Boro defender Daniel Ayala, shouldering him to the turf and beating Dimi Konstantopoulos at his near post from close range. Three minutes after that, Nathan Redmond doubled his team's lead, beating Ben Gibson with his first touch before placing a perfect shot past Dimi with his second.
And with that early lead, Norwich were always in control, never looking like they’d concede a goal for the rest of the match. They held the ball well throughout the rest of the first half, with Boro hardly getting a sniff. The trailing side played much better in the second half, but all they could create was corners and weak shots. John Ruddy was never truly tested as Norwich coasted to victory.
Norwich City: Ruddy, Olsson, Bassong, Martin, Whittaker, Howson, Tettey, Johnson, Hoolahan (Dorrans 75’), Redmond (O’Neil 87’), Jerome (Grabban 74’)
Goals: Jerome (12’), Redmond (15’)
Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Friend, Gibson, Ayala, Whitehead (Nsue 46’), Tomlin, Leadbitter, Clayton, Adomah, Vossen (Kike 68’), Bamford
Goals: None.
3 things
1. The Championship’s best team is up - The Canaries were outside of playoff places when Neil Adams was fired in January, but they’d been very unlucky to that point. That’s not to disparage Alex Neil at all -- he’s clearly done an excellent job as manager -- but Norwich were always the Championship’s top side. Neil got the most out of them in the second half of the year while their finishing started matching their play, and his team are probably the best candidate to stay in the Premier League next season.
2. Continuity probably helped Norwich - A lot of teams like to start over when they get relegated, retaining a small number of popular and/or young players while getting rid of higher salaried veterans, even if they appear to be solid players. They’re the ones who got you relegated, after all. But 10 of Norwich’s starters appeared for them in the Premier League last season, and keeping their squad together has paid dividends.
3. Is Nathan Redmond ready for the next step? - Redmond joined Norwich from Birmingham City as one of the Championship's top young prospects, but he faltered in his first Premier League season, regularly looking overmatched even if his talent was obvious. In taking the step back down, Redmond has blossomed into a star, and was one of the best attacking players in the division. At 21 years old, with a year of Premier League football and another year as a star for Norwich behind him, Redmond might finally be ready to fulfill his promise.
