Norwich 1 Crystal Palace 0: Hughton delighted with important victory

A delighted Chris Hughton reflected on a “big win” as Norwich beat Crystal Palace to move up to 14th place in the Premier League table.

Gary Hooper scored the eventual winner after half an hour at Carrow Road when he slotted home from close range.

Palace could have netted equaliser but Barry Bannan’s shot was headed onto the bar by Martin Olsson as Tony Pulis’ reign as manager got off to a losing start.

“It is a big win and there is certainly a better feeling going into Wednesday’s game at Liverpool,” Hughton told BBC Sport. “We just have to make sure we have more of them.

“Tony [Pulis] has set Crystal Palace up to be very difficult to beat and they will cause teams a lot of problems. I thought we defended well and restricted them to minimal chances.”

Meanwhile, Pulis felt that his side had done enough to earn at least a point following a result which leaves Palace rooted to the foot of the table.

“We had the opportunities,” said Pulis. “Bannan’s effort that was headed off the line was a fantastic piece of defending.

“There were really good positives to come out of it. We just needed a break, and we never got it.

“It’s very disappointing to come and compete as well as we did today and not get anything out of the game.”