LEANDRO TROSSARD FIRED Brighton & Hove Albion closer to Premier League survival and left Norwich City in grave danger of relegation as the Belgian sealed a 1-0 win at Carrow Road on Saturday.
Trossard netted in the first half to move Brighton nine points clear of the relegation zone before the bulk of the weekend’s matches.
Brighton’s second win in four games since the restart puts them in pole position to beat the drop, but the picture is much bleaker for Norwich. With five matches left, they are seven points from safety after losing all five games following the coronavirus hiatus.
Norwich’s chances of avoiding an immediate return to the Championship are fading by the week, especially with games against Chelsea and Manchester City still to come.
Canaries boss Daniel Farke dropped Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell, even though the pair had scored 68% of his team’s goals this season.
The move was criticised by some Norwich fans, but Finland forward Pukki, who had netted 11 times this term, was without a goal in 10 games dating back to January.
Norwich started brightly with their changed line-up and Onel Hernandez fired over from long-range after an incisive break. But Brighton wrestled back control and had a penalty appeal turned down by VAR when Trossard tumbled under pressure.
Brighton made the most of their dominant spell as Trossard struck in the 25th minute. Aaron Mooy whipped over a low cross from the right and Trossard made a perfectly timed run to the near post, where the Belgian midfielder slotted past Tim Krul for his fourth goal of the season.
Norwich had lost all 19 Premier League games this season in which they have conceded first. They were the only team in the top-flight yet to pick up a point from a losing position and their frustration mounted as Hernandez miscued wide.
Brighton almost put the game beyond their reach when Mooy’s free-kick hit team-mate Dan Burn and deflected narrowly wide.
Norwich’s Josip Drmic shot straight at Mat Ryan from a good position before Farke sent on Pukki, Cantwell and Adam Idah with 23 minutes left.
There was no lack of effort from Norwich, but their luck was out in stoppage-time when 19-year-old Irish striker Idah glanced a header against the inside of the far post and Brighton cleared the danger.
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