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A week is a long time in football. This time last week Norwich were pointless, had been outclassed by a Championship-hardened Millwall side and faced the threat of a recently Premier League Burnley in their next league fixture. Fast forward to the present time and Norwich have a first home win of the season and three very impressive points. Braces from Mohamed Toure and summer signing Andre Brooks secured a 4-1 win to remind the Championship why Norwich had been billed as promotion contenders throughout the pre-season build-up. Manager Phillipe Clement made six changes from the much-needed midweek Carabao Cup victory away at Cardiff, rewarding Jack Stacey and Anthony Musaba’s midweek performances with a start. Both were starting for the first time in the league this season. Mo Toure was chosen ahead of Mathias Kvistgaarden to lead the line, while Oscar Schwartu was given the nod in the number ten role, and the Kenny McLean-Pelle Mattsson partnership was restored in the middle of the park. Clement had a strong bench to call on if required, with the plethora of attacking options proving an especially pleasing sight. Zian Flemming started for Burnley despite being heavily linked with a Premier League move, while Kyle Walker and Anel Ahmedhodžić meant Nicky Hayen had plenty of experience in his defence. This was the first time two Belgian managers have faced off in the Championship, but would it be Clement or Hayen who took home the bragging rights? With two minutes on the Carrow Road clock, a speculative long ball from Jose Cordoba was completely missed by Ahmedhodžić, an absolute gift for Toure who made no mistake with his finish. 1 – 0 Norwich. Two minutes gone. Norwich were celebrating again just three minutes later; Brooks met Musaba’s low cross to make it 2-0 to Norwich. Both wingers linked up with Brooks arriving at the far post to double the home side’s lead and give Norwich what can only be described as a dream start. However, Burnley were not to be subdued by their disastrous start and soon set about trying to prove that they had plenty of attacking prowess of their own. Stacey found himself beaten twice by the dangerous-looking Chelsea loanee Dastan Satpayev, and Norwich were thankful for Mattsson, who made an important interception before following up with a block in quick succession. Burnley were growing into the game, and Norwich’s 2-0 lead did not look like it would be enough. But one goal was not enough for Toure, and after Kyle Walker failed to deal with a corner, Toure helped the ball into the net to put Norwich three-nil up. Burnley had been all over the place defensively, and the Canaries had been clinical, making sure to punish the mistakes of their Championship rivals. A dejected away end had had enough and began to chant that their players were ‘not fit to wear the shirt’. As if to counter their criticism, Josh Laurent hit one from the edge of the box into the far corner of the net, beating Vladan Kovacevic in the Norwich goal. Norwich were denied a clean sheet, and the game was back on. 26 minutes gone and the Carrow Road crowd had already seen four goals. 3-1 Norwich and suddenly it was nervy again. With 28 minutes gone, Cordoba joined McConville in the book with an unnecessary pull deep into the Burnley half, drawing parallels to the Millwall horror show as both Norwich centre-backs were on yellow cards with the majority of the game to go. Both teams looked far more comfortable when attacking, rather than defensively, after a non-stop first half hour. The home debutant Musaba looked lively, linking up nicely with Brooks while Toure put a chance that would have given him another hat-trick just wide. Flemming put a header over the bar on the brink of half-time and the whistle blew with the score at 3-1. Neither manager opted in favour of half-time changes, and Norwich were now defending the Barclay end. It would be interesting to see whether Clement wanted more of the same from his side or had instead attempted to focus on defensive solidity. Jacob Bruun Larsen nearly drew Burnley one step closer to parity, getting in behind a high Norwich defensive line, but his shot hit the post, and Norwich were let off. At the other end, Ahmedhodžić put in a fantastic block to thwart Musaba from eight yards out, after good work from Brooks to cut the ball back for the Dutch winger. This was followed by a huge block from McConville on 57 minutes, as the game picked up its tempo again and both teams looked to bring the game to the other. Clement reacted with two changes on the hour mark, introducing Papa Amadou Diallo and Anis Ben Sliamne in place of Musaba and Schwartau respectively. Burnley replaced one former Norwich loanee with another as Aaron Ramsey was withdrawn for Marcus Edwards, whilst Zeki Amdouni also came on as Bruun Larsen made way. Less than ten minutes later, Brooks was backflipping in front of the River End. Diallo drove forward with the ball, teeing up Stacey who put in a low cross that Brooks dutifully finished to hopefully put the game to bed, as Norwich were now 4-1 up. Brooks momentarily joined Toure in the hat-trick hunt before they were taken off for Mathias Kvistgaarden and Ante Crnac with 70 minutes gone. One man who did not need substituting was Pelle Mattson, who after making a string of important reactive defensive challenges in the first half was able to impose himself in a more attacking nature throughout the second half, making a real difference in the middle of the park. With Burnley having to chase the game, Josh Laurent tugged Slimane’s shirt and found himself receiving a second yellow card, which was eventually followed by a red. Norwich were now comfortable, symbolised by the removal of Kenny McLean as Jacob Wright was put on for the last 10 minutes, and Clement was satisfied that the hard work had been done. Flemming was also withdrawn, perhaps for the last time in a Burnley shirt, and Norwich successfully saw out the last ten minutes of normal time and the five added minutes to secure a crucial three points. The Canaries were now up and running for the 2026/27 Championship season, and how better to do it than in front of their home fans. It took until the 29th of November 2025 for Norwich to record their first home win last season; yesterday Norwich made sure that there would be no repeat of such a run.