Norwich City defeated Bournemouth 3-1 at Carrow Road on Saturday to continue their promising start to the season.
The Canaries saluted in the first-ever Premier League clash between the two clubs thanks to goals from Cameron Jerome, Wes Hoolahan and Matt Jarvis, who joined on loan from West Ham United in the summer.
The opener came in the 35th minute when Hoolahan raced down the right flank before cutting back for Jerome to slide home before the Republic of Ireland winger ran at the Cherries defence before firing home from the edge of the area to make it 2-0 in the 52nd minute.
The third goal for the home side came in the 67th minute when Jonny Howson found Jarvis just inside the area on the right, allowing the attacking midfielder to cut back onto his preferred left foot and curl a sumptuous effort past Artur Boruc.
Eddie Howe's side managed to pull one back with nine minutes remaining when defender Steve Cook headed home Simon Francis' corner but it did not much to dent Alex Neil's Norwich who are now ninth on the table while Bournemouth occupy 16th.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Norwich City: 3 (Cameron Jerome 35', Wes Hoolahan 52', Matt Jarvis 67')
Bournemouth: 1 (Steve Cook 81')
Carrow Road, Norwich - 27,018
TALKING POINTS
- Norwich have started brightly. Are they any chance of forcing their way into the top 10 under Neil?
- Do Bournemouth have the mettle to bounce back from a mediocre beginning which has yielded just four points from five games?
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Canaries travel to 10th-placed Liverpool next Sunday as Bournemouth welcome second-bottom Sunderland to the south coast.
TWITTER INSIGHT
Good way to get our first home win of the season great second half performance and a massive 3 points #canaries#ncfc
— cameron jerome (@camjerome33) September 12, 2015Great win today! The team 1 to 11 and the lads that came on were superb! @NorwichCityFC#OntoTheNextOne
— Redz (@NathanRedmond22) September 12, 2015Disappointing result but delighted to make my @afcbournemouth debut today #cherries
— Glenn Murray (@GM_83) September 12, 2015
QUOTES CORNER
Norwich's Neil on Hoolahan perfomance:
"He is capable of that. He isn't going to always have days when he has that much influence but when he does he is a joy to watch. He is a special player and he has been excellent since I came here."
Bournemouth boss Howe on disappointing loss:
"Definitely this season and, reflecting back on last season I don't think we performed like that at all throughout the season."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
4 - Wes Hoolahan has assisted four of Norwich's six Premier League goals this season. Wizard.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 12, 2015
TEAM LEADERS
NORWICH
Goals - Nathan Redmond, Russell Martin 2
Assists - Wes Hoolahan 4
Yellow cards - Alexander Tettey 4
Red cards - Steven Whittaker 1
BOURNEMOUTH
Goals - Callum Wilson 4
Assists - Simon Francis 2
Yellow cards - Steve Cook, Eunan O'Kane, Matt Ritchie 1
