Stoke City of England midfielder, John Mikel Obi’s missed sitter early in the encounter against Norwich City accounted for a heavy loss for his side on Saturday, while their hosts soared top of the English Championship table, megasportsarena.com reports.
Mikel could have opened scoring under two minutes of kick-off, but his miss gave power to The Canaries, who moved back to the top of the table, after putting a four-match winless run behind them by beating the struggling Potters 4-1 at Carrow Road.
While Mikel was left sulking, Teemu Pukki scored twice in what was The Canaries’ biggest win of the season so far, with Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendia also on target, thereby taking Daniel Farke’s side a point clear of Brentford, who will reclaim top spot if they avoid defeat versus Barnsley on Sunday.
After an early escape, Norwich dominated the early stages and fully deserved their early lead, as just 90 seconds had elapsed when Mikel somehow contrived to volley Sam Clucas’ corner wide when he had a clear sight of goal.
Norwich then took control and it took two brave blocks and a brilliant reaction save from Angus Gunn to prevent them from taking the lead after four minutes, with Pukki, Buendia and Max Aarons the unlucky home players.
Pukki then screwed the ball wide from a tight angle and Mario Vrancic headed straight at Gunn before Norwich got their noses in front in the 15th minute.
Stoke improved as the half wore on, with Steven Fletcher having a header rightly ruled out for offside, but it was Norwich who grabbed the second goal of the game just before half-time.
Buendia, back in action after a two-match ban, did well to charge down Morgan Fox’s attempted clearance and did even better to get the ball under control and square for Pukki to sidefoot home into an unguarded net.
It was a huge blow for Stoke, who were looking for a first win in 11 games, but they started the second period well and should have pulled one back in the 49th minute after Kenny McLean’s calamitous back pass had put Fletcher in on goal.
Norwich wrapped up the points in the 78th minute when Buendia was brought down in the area by Joe Allen and Pukki confidently converted from the spot to make it 15 for the season.
