The Newcastle United bubble has burst in spectacular fashion and Norwich City took full advantage of Alan Pardew's plight, coming out 4-2 victors in an entertaining clash at Carrow Road. The visitors, who until three matches prior had been one of the last two undefeated teams in the Premier League, had since hit a rough patch thanks to a vicious schedule, earning a solitary point from matches against Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, and had also picked up a slew of injuries along the way, meaning they were forced to field a completely makeshift defence against the Canaries.
It didn't work. The opener came in controversial fashion: Tim Krul was adjudged to have taken the ball out of play, and the resultant corner ended up pinballing around the Newcastle box before being turned in by some combination of West Hoolahan and Danny Simpson. Demba Ba would strike back before half time with a neat finish from Yohan Cabaye's lovely through ball, but it didn't take Norwich long to reestablish their lead, with the Canaries striking twice in quick succession via the heads of Grant Holt and Steve Morrison to open up a 3-1 lead.
Things would go from bad to worse for the visitors shortly thereafter. Dan Gosling, who was already having a game probably best described as 'atrocious', upended Russell Martin with a dangerous tackle and with the midfielder already on a booking Martin Atkinson was left with little choice but to dismiss him. The irrepressible Ba managed to come up with a brilliant second goal, signifying that perhaps all was not lost, but instead of a comeback, Newcastle got to see Holt nodding past Krul in the final minutes of the game, putting a gloss on the scoreline and easing Norwich's fears.
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