Burnley 1-0 Norwich City: Clarets move top after late Jay Rodriguez penalty

Jay Rodriguez’s late penalty sent Burnley top of the Championship as they beat Norwich City 1-0 at Turf Moor.

The Clarets dominated the first period but could not conjure a worthwhile effort on goal as they nullified the Canaries.

Norwich’s Todd Cantwell and Burnley’s Josh Brownhill went close in the opening stages of the second half as chances remained few and far between.

But Rodriguez converted powerfully from the spot in the 82nd minute after Grant Hanley was penalised for handball.

The win was Burnley’s fourth in five games and extended their unbeaten run to 15 games as they moved two points clear at the top.

Norwich stay seventh, a point off the play-off places after a fourth loss in five games for Dean Smith’s men.

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All Burnley were missing from an excellent first half was a goal as they dominated the visitors with two thirds of the possession, with the Canaries unable to muster a first-half effort on goal for the first time this season.

Anass Zaroury and Johann Berg Gudmundsson impressed on the flanks, while Jack Cork and Josh Brownhill were effective in midfield as Vincent Kompany made four changes from the side that recovered from a 2-0 half-time deficit at Sunderland to win 4-2.

Nathan Tella’s early effort from the edge of the box was deflected wide, while Zaroury had two good early chances – a far post header that looped over the bar and a right-footed effort that curled just over the top-right corner.

Norwich created more in the first minute of the second half than the entire first period as Teemu Pukki got behind the Burnley defence for the first time and played in Cantwell, but his close-range effort was blocked by Gudmundsson a couple of yards out.

Brownhill went close soon after for the Clarets as both sides struggled to find a cutting edge in front of goal until Manuel Benson’s cross hit Hanley’s high arm and Rodriguez blasted home from 12 yards.

Norwich should have levelled soon after, but Pukki saw a side-footed effort well saved by Arijanet Muric after the Finnish striker had broken clear.

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany told BBC Radio Lancashire:

“The lads can be proud of themselves, and with the busy schedule I think we needed that home game, the lift of the crowd, and we played to it.

“The first half was really good, second half I think we stayed patient and kept working our way into the Norwich box and we got rewarded with a very good win and a clean sheet.

“We knew it was a big one. Norwich, being one of the teams that came down last season from the Premier League, we expected this to be a tough game and in itself it’s a very rewarding three points for us.”

Norwich City manager Dean Smith told BBC Radio Norfolk:

“I’m very frustrated because the first 30 minutes we took a lot of punches but didn’t bleed. We defended our box very well but we kept giving them the ball back.

“Our appetite on the ball wasn’t what it should have been. Burnley played very well and passed and moved through us the first half.

“We started the second half on the front foot and had a decent chance and Burnley were finding it hard to open us up.

“But unfortunately we gave away a stupid penalty which cost us the game. I’m frustrated and disappointed but I’m proud of defenders Sam McCallum and Jonathan Tomkinson for stepping in today [due to injuries] and the performances they made.”