Snodgrass and Ruddy boost Norwich survival hopes

Norwich City secured a vital 1-0 win over Tottenham at Carrow Road to move further away from the relegation zone, with Robert Snodgrass scoring the winning goal. While Snodgrass made the headlines for his goal just after the break, Norwich were thankful to a number of sensational John Ruddy saves for ensuring three valuable points remainder at Carrow Road, lengthening the club’s relegation odds with Betfair.

After an even first half, Norwich came out of the half-time break the fastest, taking the lead within two minutes of the start of the second half. After a dismal opening 45 minutes, Ricky van Wolfswinkel finally got into the game after the break.

The Dutch striker stole the ball from Nabil Bentaleb and released Bradley Johnson, the midfielder then laying on a perfect pass for Snodgrass to curl a left-footed shot beyond Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal, to give Chris Hughton’s men only their second win in 12 league games.

While Spurs dominated much of the rest of the game, the top-four contenders failed to find a way past John Ruddy, who is being tipped by some Betfair fans to make England’s World Cup squad this summer. The relief was clear to see from the home fans at the final whistle, easing the pressure on Norwich manager Chris Hughton, who had been among the Betfair favourites to be the next Premier League manager to be sacked.

“We all feel it at this football club. We don’t want to be in the position that we’re in. Everyone at this football club is pushing in the right direction,” insisted Hugton.

“We only want results. If we show the character and quality we had today then we’ve got a chance. Let’s hope this is one step towards getting a few more points.”