Norwich City extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to eight games with a 2-1 home win over struggling Sunderland yesterday.

Defender Sebastien Bassong stretched out a leg to poke Norwich into an eighth-minute lead and Anthony Pilkington made it 2-0 after 37 minutes with a fine finish after being played in on goal.

Sunderland halved the deficit when Craig Gardner’s shot flew into the bottom corner of Mark Bunn’s goal a minute before halftime and the strike transformed the match.

Norwich were forced to hang on for long periods in the second half as Sunderland piled on the pressure. Connor Wickham did have the ball in the net for the visitors after Bunn spilled Danny Rose’s volley but the effort was ruled out for offside.

Defeat left Sunderland just one place above the relegation zone.

Playing today: 21.00 Newcastle vs Wigan.

Other results: The Championship: Burnley vs Blackburn 1-1; Cardiff vs Sheff. Wed. 1-0. FA Cup, 2nd round: MK Dons vs AFC Wimbledon 2-1; Alfreton vs Leyton Orient 2-4.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.