Philippe Clement praises ‘efficient’ Norwich after big home win over Burnley

Norwich head coach Philippe Clement was delighted to give the home faithful something to smile about as his side beat Burnley 4-1 to pick up their first Championship points of the season.

The Canaries emerged empty-handed from their opening Carrow Road fixture against West Brom – and were then well beaten at Millwall – but fans got both the result and the performance they were looking for against the Clarets.

Clement said: “There were a lot of positives – and obviously getting the three points is the main one.

“We all want entertaining football and we got that in the opening game against West Brom but without the right result.

“We were much more efficient, especially in the first half. We were good both on and off the ball, brave in our pressing, and created chances. With the goals going in there was an amazing atmosphere in the stadium.

“The boys put in a top performance against a good opponent, with many of their players in the Premier League last season.

“It was good to see them showing their true identity – something that was missing at Millwall. We were given a harsh lesson there and hopefully we have learned from it.”

Norwich never looked back after scoring twice in the opening five minutes, aided and abetted by some poor Burnley defending.

Mo Toure fired home inside 90 seconds after Anel Ahmedhodzic had missed a routine through ball and the Canaries quickly doubled their advantage when an unmarked Anthony Musaba crossed low for Andre Brooks to convert.

It was effectively game over on 21 minutes when the Clarets made a hash of clearing a corner, allowing Toure to stab home his second of the afternoon.

Burnley pulled one back six minutes later when Josh Laurent curled one in from just outside the box, but any hope of a comeback was snuffed out on 67 minutes when Brooks finished off a neat move involving Papa Diallo and Jack Stacey with a clever backheel.

A second yellow card for Laurent 10 minutes later just about summed up a miserable afternoon for the Clarets.

Head coach Nicky Hayen only has one point to show from his opening three games in charge, but insists the first win won’t be long in coming.

“I can understand the frustration of the fans after what happened last season – and how we have started this one – but we need time,” he said.

“It shouldn’t be the case that the best player on the pitch for us (Chelsea loanee Dastan Satpayev) is an 18-year-old making his way in the game.

“We are working hard to bring new players in and I will be at the club first thing tomorrow to try and make things happen.

“We are trying to create a team here and I think everyone could see there were good bits from us.

“But when you concede so early on it doesn’t help – it was a mistake, which isn’t something you can legislate for – and for the second we should have got the ball away before they had a chance to score.

“It has been a tough start but I am optimistic we will turn things around.”