Norwich City 2-0 Bristol City: Canaries extend lead at top of the Championship
- Published
Jordan Hugill's double took his tally for the season to four
Jordan Hugill scored twice as Norwich City extended their lead at the top of the Championship with a comfortable win over Bristol City.
The hosts had a number of opportunities to open the scoring before Hugill eventually headed them into the lead after 36 minutes from Todd Cantwell's measured cross.
Hugill bundled in a second to wrap up the win when Bristol City defender Tommy Rowe was down in the area.
The Canaries are now seven points clear of second-placed Swansea and nine points ahead of third-placed Brentford, although they have played a game more than the Swans and two more than the Bees.
Ominously for the rest of the division, Daniel Farke's men have five more points than they had at this stage two years ago when they won the league by five points.
Only great defending from Tomas Kalas and a superb save by Daniel Bentley from Kenny McLean's long-range shot stopped them going in front prior to Hugill's header.
Injury-hit Bristol City improved after the break but struggled to create any clear-cut chances against the dominant hosts.
Hugill, in for injured leading scorer Teemu Pukki, scored his fourth of the season from just a couple of feet after Max Aarons' low ball across the face of goal bounced off Kalas.
The visitors had some cause for complaint as Rowe was down in the area after the initial ball into the box but referee James Linington deemed it not to be a head injury and allowed play to continue.
Norwich boss Daniel Farke:
"It is always difficult to compare games but I would say this was our best performance of the season so far. The lads were fantastic and I can't praise them enough.
"We dominated the game from start to finish, had nine shots on goal while denying them a single effort on our goal, had two thirds of the possession and the only complaint I could make was that we didn't take more of the many chances we created.
"We are in a great position but we are not over the moon or anything like that because there are still a lot of games to play and I expect teams like Brentford and Swansea to win their games in hand."
Bristol City boss Dean Holden:
"We were beaten by a top team tonight, undoubtedly the best team in the league.
"We knew all about their qualities, how well they keep the ball and how expansive they are but were hoping to take advantage when we got the ball from them. But we never really did that and didn't create nearly enough.
"We actually started the game quite brightly and also had quite a lot of the ball in the opening stages of the second half, but overall it was a tough evening for us."