Norwich City 3-1 Bournemouth

Cameron Jerome and Wes Hoolahan linked up well throughout the game

Wes Hoolahan inspired Norwich to an impressive victory over fellow promoted side Bournemouth.

Cameron Jerome opened the scoring after Hoolahan nutmegged Steve Cook and squared the ball to Jerome to poke in.

Callum Wilson hit the post for Bournemouth late in the first half.

But Norwich pulled away in the second half, with Hoolahan scoring from outside the box and winger Matt Jarvis adding a third on his debut before Cook headed home a late consolation.

Alex Neil's side could have won by more with Robbie Brady hitting the post and Jerome missing several other chances. Debutant substitute Dieumerci Mbokani failed to turn a Nathan Redmond cross home late on.

• Reaction to this match and the rest of Saturday's action

• Read how Norwich beat Bournemouth here.

Man-of-the-match Hoolahan is the difference

Hoolahan has provided assists for four - and scored one - of Norwich's eight Premier League goals this season

Hoolahan's career took a while to really get going, but at 33 he is arguably at the top of his career now.

The Republic of Ireland attacking midfielder linked up with Jerome well throughout, setting up the striker to hit the side netting with a clever through ball.

And then moments later, holding his shin pad in his hand for reasons unknown, he beat Cook with some brilliant skill before finding Jerome to scramble home.

After the break, he got the goal his performance deserved when he charged forward and found the bottom corner from 20 yards.

"Wes is an influential player for us, he has that creativity that can decide games. He was dangerous throughout the pitch but as a team we worked really hard and deserved the plaudits," Canaries boss Alex Neil told BBC Match of the Day.

Norwich have improved over the summer

Norwich's players offered more support for their sole striker than Bournemouth managed

Bournemouth won last season's Championship title with Norwich coming up via the play-offs. And, after identical starts to the season, the Canaries look better equipped to stay up on this performance.

Eddie Howe's Cherries have lost big-money summer signings Max Gradel and Tyrone Mings to long-term injuries, and started with 10 of last season's squad at Carrow Road.

Before the game Howe said it would be a "good marker" to see if they had improved. And after the match he said confidence had been the difference between the sides.

Norwich's starting summer signings - Brady, Jarvis and Andre Wisdom - all played well, with Jarvis scoring on his debut after cutting the ball onto his left foot inside the area.

'We made some bad decisions'

Norwich manager Alex Neil told BBC Sport: "I thought we were the dominant team throughout, we scored three good goals and deserved the win.

"We had our game plan and the players carried that out perfectly. All credit goes to them. They were fantastic today.

"Matt Jarvis had that dimension we needed, he can beat players and he did fantastically for his goal, I'm really pleased for him. Hopefully we can continue to play as well as we did today."

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe told BBC Sport: "The biggest disappointment was the goals we gave away. At this level if you defend like we did for the three goals you have to be disappointed.

"I thought we were still well in the game at half-time, but in the second half we conceded possession really cheaply. That's usually our strength so there's a lot for us to reflect on.

"Maybe there was a bit of a lack of confidence after going behind, but we ended up chasing the game and making some bad decisions. That cost us."

The view from Carrow Road

BBC Match of the Day's Conor McNamara: "This was impressive stuff from Norwich with Wes Hoolahan pulling the strings. If you'd offered this to Norwich at the start of the season they'd have taken it; by mid-September they are three points ahead of champions Chelsea."

The stats you need to know

• Jarvis scored his first Premier League goal since April 2014; ending a run of 18 league games without notching

• Norwich won their first home league game against Bournemouth since 1951; ending a nine-match winless streak (L5 D4).

• Norwich have lost only one of their last six league meetings with Bournemouth (W2 D3) - though this was only their third league match since 1960.

• Alex Neil, 34, v Eddie Howe, 37, was the youngest combined managerial age in a Premier League game since Gareth Southgate, 36, met Aidy Boothroyd, 35, for Middlesbrough v Watford in November 2006 (that pair were five days younger).

Who's up next?

Next Saturday, Bournemouth will fancy their chances of returning to winning ways as they host Sunderland, who have picked up two points from their first four games. Norwich face a daunting trip to Liverpool the following day.