Teemu Pukki passed up the chance to fire bottom-of-the-table Norwich to a priceless Premier League win at Newcastle as two points went begging. In the event, poor finishing and the heroics of Magpies keeper Martin Dubravka, who made key saves from Sam Byram and Pukki, ensured the game finished 0-0 with Steve Bruce’s men grateful for a point on a day when they scarcely deserved it. The Canaries would have been ahead with just five minutes gone had Dubravka not pulled off a fine reaction save to repel Byram’s near-post header from an Ondrej Duda corner. Norwich continued to enjoy more than their fair share of possession as their hosts sat deep and might have gone ahead when Pukki was slipped in behind the Magpies’ rearguard with 29 minutes gone, but defender Federico Fernandez got back to make a perfectly-timed block. Daniel Farke’s men took up where they had left off to press a misfiring Newcastle back into their own half, and they went close once again when Kenny McLean glanced another Duda corner wide of the far post.

Source: Irish Examiner February 01, 2020 17:03 UTC