Josh Sargent has been on fire since returning to action for Norwich City as he bagged a brace to help Norwich City secure the win over Ethan Horvath and Cardiff City to keep them well in the hunt for a promotion playoff place.
Norwich City 4-1 Cardiff City
The Canaries were down early but fought back to claim a commanding win over Cardiff City at Carrow Road as the race for the promotion playoff places heats up in the Championship.
Josh Sargent started and played 70 minutes for Norwich, completing all of his passes and putting five shots on target. On the other side, Ethan Horvath went the distance as he made three saves in the loss.
The hosts dominated the game from the start but found themselves down a goal after 19 minutes. Rubin Colwill’s cross was initially blocked by the Norwich defender, but the forward got the ball back and sent it to the center. Angus Gunn got a hand to it, but the ball would go into the path of Jamilu Collins to smash home for Cardiff.
The setback did not deter Norwich as they continued their assault on the visitor’s goal. They were finally rewarded 20 minutes later when Gabriel Sara played the ball to Sam McCallum on the left side of the 18-yard box. Horvath got a hand on the left-back’s cross, but it wasn’t enough to stop the momentum as Sargent was on the spot to volley it into the back of the net.
The Canaries took the lead just before halftime when Sara buried a free-kick into the bottom left-hand corner of Horvath’s goal.
Norwich carried their momentum into the second half and Sargent would be called into service once again as he grabbed his second goal of the day in the 54th minute. The striker collected the ball inside Cardiff’s end and passed it to Onel Hernandez who then played it to Jack Stacey on the right wing. With Sargent begging for the ball in the penalty area, the Englishman supplied the cross. Sargent’s first attempt hit the woodwork, but his second attempt got in through an acrobatic volley.
Christian Fassnacht completed the rout for the hosts as he teamed up with Sydney van Hooijdonk to score in the 77th minute.
Norwich sits in seventh place in the standings with 51 points and just outside of the final two playoff spots currently held by Coventry City and West Bromwich Albion.
Stoke City 0-1 Coventry City
A goal in the second half helped Coventry City keep hold of the sixth place in the standings as they came away with the win over Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium.
Lyden Gooch played 70 minutes for the Potters, completing 70 percent of his passes, winning a duel, and making one key pass. For Coventry, Haji Wright played the full 90 minutes and change as he completed 81 percent of his passes, won four duels, made three tackles, and had two shots.
There was not much to write home about in the first half as it remained scoreless, but the visitors got the all-important goal in the second interval thanks in part to Wright.
Stoke’s Ki-Jana Hoever had possession of the ball in his team’s end when pressure from Wright forced him to turn it over. This allowed Callum O’Hare to pounce as he took control of the loose ball and fed it to Ellis Simms to bury home in the 51st minute.
The win leaves Coventry just ahead of Norwich on goal difference for the last promotion playoff spot.
Notes
Elsewhere around the Championship, Reggie Cannon watched from the bench as Queens Park Rangers got a little boost to their survival hopes with a 1-0 win over Bristol City.
Middlesbrough secured a 2-1 win over league leaders Leceister City as Matthew Hoppe remained on the bench.
In League One, Donovan Pines came on to play 30 minutes as Barnsley moved up to fourth place in the standings following their 2-1 win over Fleetwood Town.
Wigan Athletic were 1-0 winners over Shrewsbury Town as Charlie Kelman watched all of the action from the bench for the Latics.
Alex Mighten played the final eight minutes for Port Vale in their 3-2 loss to Cheltenham Town.
Down in League Two, Jonathan Tomkinson went the distance for Bradford City as they came away with a 1-0 win over Sutton United.
Crawley Town recorded a 2-0 win over Forest Green Rovers as Jeremy Kelly started and played 56 minutes for the Red Devils.
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