Norwich City Vs Sheffield Wednesday: norwich city vs sheffield wednesday — Canaries beat relegated Owls

In a 2-0 win at Carrow Road, norwich city vs sheffield wednesday ended with Mathias Kvistgaarden and Paris Maghoma on the scoresheet. The victory left Norwich a place higher in the table, eight points clear of the drop zone, while already-relegated Sheffield Wednesday suffered their 11th successive defeat.

Match overview and goals

Norwich dominated a first half that delivered both goals. Mathias Kvistgaarden and the impressive Paris Maghoma were the scorers, with Maghoma marking his first league start with a powerful left-foot strike. Paris Maghoma's previous goal for Norwich had been scored in the FA Cup.

The opening goal sequence began after Mohamed Toure went off early and Kvistgaarden came on. Kvistgaarden had an early left-foot finish from Kenny McLean's perfectly-weighted through ball ruled out for a fractional offside, then headed a loose ball against the bar before nodding the rebound over the line. Maghoma created space with a slick turn and beat Seny Dieng with a low shot into the net, and later curled just beyond the far post from another opportunity.

Toure injury and minutes

Norwich made a sluggish start and suffered a setback in only the sixth minute when Australian international Mohamed Toure went down clutching his groin as he chased a long ball from Jack Stacey and had to go off. One account describes his departure as coming inside the opening 10 minutes with a suspected groin injury. Mohamed Toure had scored five goals in four games since arriving in the transfer window, and Norwich fans will be hoping Mohamed Toure's injury is not serious.

Norwich City Vs Sheffield Wednesday details

After the break Norwich were unable to add to their tally in an often low-wattage second half, but had already done enough. Wednesday could not convert their chances: Jamal Lowe fed Charlie McNeill on the right of the box but a superb diving block by Kellen Fisher deflected the shot wide, and Joe Emery later headed wide from a free-kick when he might have done better. Seny Dieng kept out an Ali Ahmed point-blank effort before Kvistgaarden's goal, and Dieng palmed away a fierce 25-yarder from Jacob Wright as Norwich resumed pressure.

Substitutions and Jakov twist

Clement made changes during the match: Kvistgaarden was later taken off and Jakov Medic, normally a centre-back, was sent on to lead the line. The Croatian was described as offering a physical presence and a focal point despite not having the nimblest feet. Norwich had made four changes to the side that lost at home to Birmingham City on Saturday. Regular substitutions disrupted the flow at times, but Norwich still managed to control large portions of the match.

Defence, Kovacevic and records

Goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic kept his fifth clean sheet of the campaign in the 2-0 victory. Kovacevic called it "a perfect evening for everybody here, a great win and a great night, " saying: "We keep a clean sheet, two goals. We could have scored at least one more to finish the game earlier, but we're happy with 2-0. " He urged the squad to take it one match at a time: "Now we are eight points clear, but we go game by game. I don't watch the table every time and scroll to find where we are at the moment, but we go game by game. "

Kovacevic noted the defensive improvement and his changing role: "It's really important for us, and I think defensively now we did today and the previous game, and I hope in the future, a very good job. I think defensively now we are much, much better than we were. That's really important for the team. " He added that keeping clean sheets means one goal can be enough to win, and that he now typically needs to make only one or two saves per game: "Now I have to save one or two per game, so if I save, we can win the games. But every time the opponent creates something, even Sheffield Wednesday today, every game you have to expect something. "

Since Boxing Day, Norwich had won all five matches against sides below them in the EFL Championship table — Charlton, West Brom, Blackburn, Oxford United and Sheffield Wednesday — conceding just five shots on target in the process. The victory left Norwich up a place to 17th with 12 games remaining, eight points clear of the drop zone.

Manager reaction and next fixtures

Norwich head coach Philippe Clement reflected on the result: "We knew Sheffield Wednesday were a team that had lost a lot of games - but a lot, I think, by only one goal difference. We knew it was a massive game and we could not underestimate them and we had by far the most chances, most possession, two good goals, could have been more, so a lot of pleasing things. " Clement also gave an initial assessment on Mohamed Toure's potential lay-off and on the Jakov Medic experiment following the final whistle; the specifics of those assessments were not set out in full in the material provided.

Sheffield Wednesday remain relegated and endured their 11th successive defeat. Wednesday had experienced Dominic Iorfa back in their defence for the first time since 4 January. The Owls will be at home to Southampton on Saturday, while Norwich travel to take on Leicester City next.

For Norwich, the win combined an early double from Kvistgaarden and Maghoma with continued defensive progress and a fifth clean sheet for Kovacevic, leaving the Canaries in a stronger position as the season reaches its latter stages.