Bolton 1 Norwich 2: Paul Lambert’s delight at first win

Norwich City boss Paul Lambert was thrilled with his side’s spirited display after they overcame 10-man Bolton to seal their first Premier League victory of the season.

Anthony Pilkinton and Bradley Johnson fired The Canaries into a two-goal lead just before the break, with Bolton’s Ivan Klasnic seeing red for a head-butt on Marc Tierney in first-half stoppage time.

Martin Petrov’s penalty halved the visitor’s advantage after the break but Lambert’s men were able to hold on for the three points.

“I thought we played really, really well,” said the Norwich manager after the game. “We’ve come to a really hard place and the difference is that the result went for us today.

“As a team we have looked fine and if we keep it up hopefully we’ll be OK. The confidence is always there.”

He added: “Bradley Johnson has been at the top of his game for a matter of weeks now – his performance levels are really high at the minute.”

Pilkington put the visitors ahead in the 38th minute when he turned in Steve Morison’s shot from a deep corner.

And The Canaries doubled their lead two minutes later from another set piece thanks to a fine header from Johnson.

Owen Coyle’s side were reduced to 10 men when Klasnic was shown a straight red card for head-butting Tierney just before half-time.

Petrov’s penalty gave Bolton a lifeline after Leon Barnett brought down David Ngog in the box, but the visitors were able to hold on to seal their first win in the top flight this term.

Bolton boss Coyle believes Klasnic’s red card swayed the game in the visitors’ favour. He said: “All credit to Norwich. Ivan Klasnic getting sent off gave us a mountain to climb.

“We’ve given up cheap goals – we switched off. Every game in this league is a tough one but I felt there a bit of spirit and desire in the second half, but really we let ourselves down today.”