It was a 148th birthday to remember in-front of the Sky Sports cameras as Rovers won three away Championship games under Jon Dahl Tomasson for the first time, after putting Norwich City to the sword.
After Rovers made their second long trip of the week, following their Carabao Cup Round Four 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday, Jon Dahl Tomasson made five changes from their trip to London. Scott Wharton, Joe Rankin-Costello, Sondre Tronstad, Sammie Szmodics and Tyrhys Dolan all came into the team, with the number #8 skippering the team. Outgoing were the suspended (and injured) Hayden Carter, Jake Garrett, Lewis Travis, Dilan Markanday and Harry Leonard, with the latter quartet available from the bench.
As the Sky Sports cameras honed in on this Sunday lunchtime start, following a period of silence to mark Remembrance Day, it was the home side who got the ball rolling who were looking to return to winning ways, having failed to secure a maximum in their last five fixtures.
Inside the first 90 seconds, Adam Wharton’s stray pass fell kindly for Marcelino Núñez, whose shot flew over the crossbar.
The deadlock didn’t take long to be broken as Tyhrys Dolan managed to net his second career goal at Carrow Road as Joe Rankin-Costello did brilliantly to break down the right and spot the run of Dolan who was bursting inside the right-hand channel between centre-half and full-back. The right-back’s fine pass set Dolan away who skipped into the box and had the composure to pick out the near-post to put Rovers ahead at 1-0!
Dolan continued his lively start in the 14th minute as he skipped past debutant Jacob Warner before finding Andy Moran whose attempt was blocked by the home defence.
Moments later, Rovers managed to double their lead in fantastic fashion as Skipper Szmodics showed the finishing quality that Rovers had been missing for the past two games. After Andy Moran picked the ball on halfway, he picked out his compatriot who was peeling into space. Szmodics showed his class and composure to get the ball under control before coolly slotting it past George Long and into the bottom left-hand corner to make it 2-0!
In the 20th minute, Wharton played a fantastic long-ball over the Norwich defence which Rankin-Costello latched onto before he switched it over to an unmarked Szmodics in the box, but Long was on-hand to save.
Moments later, Moran and Szmodics combined again as he then centred it to Brittain who saw his attempt from the edge of the box deflect behind for a corner which the hosts cleared.
The first booking of the game came in the 24th minute when Onel Hernández brought down Moran.
A second booking appeared on half-an-hour as Joe Rankin-Costello was booked for dissent after kicking the ball away after being flagged for offside.
From the restart, Norwich worked the ball forwards to Hwang Ui-jo who saw his shot saved by Wahlstedt.
Moments later, another Norwich cross came into the box as Hwang Ui-jo saw a header saved by the Swede in goal.
Jack Stacey, in the 33rd minute managed to tee up Hernández whose curling effort swept past the far-post.
As half-time drew closer, a minimum of two added minutes were added onto the end of the first period, before Josh Smith brought it to a close.
David Wagner would have spent the break scratching his head wondering what he had to do to try and get his Canaries singing again? With reports of his days at Carrow Road being numbered, the once playoff-winning manager would have been quick to calm his injury-plagued players down in order to hatch a route back into the game.
In the away dressing room, Jon Dahl Tomasson would have been delighted with how his side had managed to control the first period, whilst showing the clinical edge that his Rovers side had been missing at times this campaign. The Dane would have been quick to remind his players of their responsibilities going into the second-half and that they shouldn’t get ahead of themselves.
When the players returned for the second-half, it was Rovers who got the game back underway as they were looking to mark their birthday with a first – by winning a third successive Carrow Road victory for the first-time in their history.
Mere seconds into the second-half, former Rover Shane Duffy was booked after clattering into Dolan.
2-0 soon became 3-0 after an outstanding counter-attack from a Norwich free-kick. After Rovers won the ball on the edge of the area through Szmodics, he started the move by driving forwards and finding Dolan who also carried it forwards. The first goalscorer did brilliantly to turn back on himself and pick Moran out with a brilliant clip wide. The Brighton and Hove Albion loanee did fantastically to deliver a first-time cross back across the face of goal to Szmodics who ended the move that he started with a fantastic poke home.
In the 54th minute, Norwich were given some relief from Rovers’ pressure as Onel Hernández burst forwards and was clipped by Scott Wharton who was given his matching orders by Josh Smith.
From the resulting free-kick, Marcelino Núñez saw his set-piece caught calmly by Wahlstedt.
In the 58th minute and with a man advantage, Norwich came forwards again as Hwang Ui-jo’s effort was curled wide of the right-hand post.
On the hour mark, Norwich City made a quadruple change as Przemysław Płacheta, Kellen Fisher, Borja Sainz and Christian Fassnacht all replaced, Shane Duffy, Jack Stacey, Dimitris Giannoulis and Onel Hernández.
In the 62nd minute, Wahlstedt was called into action as Fassnacht’s header looked set to give the hosts a route back into the game, but the Swede did brilliantly to deny the substitute.
In the 63rd minute, as Jon Dahl Tomasson was booked by referee Josh Smith, Rovers were forced into a change as Lewis Travis came onto replace the stricken Joe Rankin-Costello.
A wide free-kick by Szmodics picked out James Hill, but the centre-back’s header looped wide of the target.
In the 76th minute, with their backs to the walls, Rovers were throwing their bodies on the line as Lewis Travis blocked a powerful effort from Núñez.
Moments later, the Chilean was again eyeing up a long-ranger, but his effort lacked the required accuracy.
Gabriel Sara tried an effort with his weaker right-foot in the 82nd minute, but a corner was awarded after the ball deflected behind off Callum Brittain, but Rovers were able to clear the danger, despite a half-hearted Norwich penalty claim which looked more like a dive by Kenny McLean
In the 83rd minute, Norwich were given a free-kick after Szmodics barged into Fisher, but Wahlstedt was on-hand to deny Sara’s quick free-kick towards the near-post.
In the 86th minute, Marcelino Núñez was booked after speaking out of turn to the referee.
Moments later, Rovers made a triple change as Harry Leonard, Jake Garrett and Arnór Sigurðsson replaced Sammie Szmodics, Adam Wharton and Andy Moran.
In the 89th minute, Rovers came forwards as Harry Leonard found Arnór Sigurðsson who tried to pick out Dolan at the far-post, but a vital toe poke by Kenny McLean denied a fourth for the ten men.
As the 90th minute ticked over, with Sammie Szmodics being named as the Sky Sports Man of the Match by ex-Canary and Rovers title-winner, Chris Sutton, a minimum of six added minutes were allocated, as Carrow Road’s home stands began to quickly empty.
In the 91st minute, any hopes of a Rovers clean-sheet were dashed as Gabriel Sara managed to find half a yard of space in the box as he tucked the ball home after Wahlstedt palmed the ball into his path for 3-1.
In the closing moments, Lewis Travis was booked for time-wasting.
The 95th minute nearly saw the game move to 3-2 as Leo Wahlstedt failed to claim Hwang Ui-jo’s effort which led to a goalmouth scramble.
Marcelino Núñez ended up having the final attempt of the game as his long-range effort bounced harmlessly wide as Leo Wahlstedt’s goal-kick was superseded by the final whistle.
A fantastic performance was sadly soured by the red card and the loss of the clean-sheet, but ultimately, the three points are all that matter. Not only did the team show great attacking prowess in the first-half particularly, but also showed their quality and resoluteness in defending, by throwing their bodies on the line on multiple occasions. Despite losing their clean-sheet, everyone connected with Rovers can take great heart with that defensive performance, which will certainly stand the team in good stead over the coming months. It’s also good to get back to winning ways having gone two games (albeit in all competitions) without a victory. Yet, as the defensive injury worries now begin to mount up, it will be interesting to see how Rovers line-up next week ahead of the international break where they will be hoping to gain a few more returnees.
After that fine showing, Rovers have returned to the top half of the table as they move into 10th with 22 points from 15 games, despite their negative 1 goal-difference. The win keeps them within touching distance of the playoffs and shows how valuable another run can be after today marked their fourth win from their last five league games.
Next up for Rovers is a Lancashire Derby as Preston North End make the short trip to Ewood Park on Friday 10th November for the 8pm kick-off in a game that will also be shown on Sky Sports. Following the third international break of the season, the Blues are back in action in the Midlands, as they travel to Stoke City on Saturday 25th November for the 3pm start, before returning to Ewood Park four days later on the 29th to host Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham City at 7:45pm.
