Norwich continue fine run to add to Preston’s woes

The duel between two sides at the opposite end of the Championship’s form table produced a predictable outcome as Norwich comfortably saw off Preston 2-0.

The Canaries had won eight of their previous 10 league games ahead of the Carrow Road encounter while the visitors had recorded just one victory in 12 in all competitions.

And a low-key encounter went very much according to expectations, with first-half goals from Ali Ahmed and Kenny McLean – the latter with a superbly struck free-kick – settling the issue with the minimum of fuss.

Preston had a decent chance to open the scoring after just six minutes when Daniel Jebbison lobbed Vladan Kovacevic after beating Harry Darling to a high ball, but his effort was narrowly off target.

From that moment onwards it was all Norwich and while they struggled to create clear-out opportunities, it always looked as though a home goal was on the way.

It finally arrived in the 17th minute when Daniel Iversen palmed Matthias Kvistgaarden’s shot into a dangerous area and Ahmed was on hand to bury the loose ball.

The lead was doubled on 39 minutes after the Canaries won a soft free-kick some 10 yards outside the box, in a central area. Skipper McLean took command and curled a delightful shot over the wall and into the top corner of the net to leave Iversen clutching at thin air.

Norwich almost made it three just before the break as a poor punch punch from Iversen was hooked back towards goal by Liam Gibbs and came back off the crossbar. Even then it looked a goal all the way as Anis Ben Slimane got his head to the rebound but Jordan Storey was on hand to make a last-ditch block.

Norwich lost left-back Ben Chrisene to injury early in the second half, which seemed to disrupt the rhythm of the match, and the next attempt on goal did not arrive until the 70th minute, with Preston defender Liam Lindsay heading off target from a good position.

Substitute Brad Potts somehow missed from close range as the visitors continued to seek a way back into the game, but Norwich generally looked comfortable as they saw out a fourth straight league win.