Norwich City 0-1 Blackpool: Relegated Seasiders end season with victory

Blackpool's Morgan Rogers lifts the ball over Norwich's goalkeeper for the first goal of the gameImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Morgan Rogers joined Blackpool on loan from Manchester City in January

Relegated Blackpool beat Norwich City in their final game before dropping back into League One next season.

Manchester City loanee Morgan Rogers put the Seasiders ahead with their first shot on goal, lifting the ball over goalkeeper Angus Gunn for his first goal for the club.

Teemu Pukki, in his farewell appearance for Norwich after five years at Carrow Road, had a shot pushed onto the post and saw an effort deflected over the bar before the break.

Blackpool hung on to end their two-season stay back in the Championship with victory against a Norwich team that finished the season 13th in the table.

Pukki was handed the captain's armband on his Canaries farewell, with the Finland international leaving as a Norwich legend after twice helping them to Premier League promotion in his five years with the club.

The 33-year-old was bright from the outset, twice threatening in the first 15 minutes, but it was a cool finish from Rogers that opened the scoring for a Blackpool side that had only previously managed one win away from home since late October.

In search of an instant equaliser, Pukki had an acrobatic effort parried onto the post by goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw, who then went on to deny Gabriel Sara before the break.

Rogers almost helped carve out a second for Blackpool in the 40th minute, only for Lewis Fiorini to send his first-time shot off target.

Pukki remained a constant threat as he searched for his 89th goal for the club, but he twice saw efforts flash off target either side of the break as a fitting end to his time with Norwich eluded the prolific and popular forward.

Josh Bowler, CJ Hamilton and Rob Apter all tested Gunn at the other end, but a solitary goal was enough for the Seasiders to end a disappointing campaign on a high.

Norwich City boss David Wagner told BBC Radio Norfolk:

"One important thing today was to give Teemu the send off which he deserved, and I think he got this with the reception before the game, during the game and after the game.

"It was very emotional, especially for him, but unfortunately he didn't get his goal.

"Everybody saw how desperate he was. The players wanted to give him the assist, the final pass for him to score but it was not the case."

Interim Blackpool manager Stephen Dobbie told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"I thought they were excellent. It's been a tough time since last Friday [when relegation was confirmed] but we reiterated what we needed from the players because we had travelling fans and we didn't want to let them down.

"I thought every player was fantastic, so brilliant credit to them.

"There was no way during the week that I would let the boys slack off, and we put out the side that we thought would hurt Norwich and we did that."

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