Norwich City 2-0 WBA: Paddy Davitt Championship pointers

1. Statement win

Norwich City eased to a first victory this season over a team in Championship top five with a performance of control and clinical intent. West Brom dominated possession but Angus Gunn was rarely troubled, bar a couple of second half headers from Daryl Dike. Plus two near misses from John Swift and Jed Wallace minutes after the interval.

Norwich enticed the Baggies onto them once in each half, and cut through with a precision that underlined they have the personnel to mix it with those who harbour the same promotion aims.

Josh Sargent slotted in the opening period, to underscore his vital importance to the cause. While Jon Rowe’s 12th in 26 league appearances will inevitably trigger another round of Premier League-flavoured transfer speculation as the window lurches to a climax. But City fans should be well used to that by now.

What they are less accustomed to is David Wagner’s side delivering with such a degree of confidence and swagger; this was a throwback to that bright August spell.

Just contrast the mood at the final whistle, and the warmth of the reception for Wagner, his players and backroom staff, as they headed around the Carrow Road pitch to take the applause.

Two defeats in the last 12 in all competitions are baseline figures that suggest the die is not cast on this campaign.

2. Talisman Sarge

In much of the focus on Wagner and the German's coaching methods, in his first full Championship campaign in charge, it is irrefutable just how important the US international is to his machine.

Sargent notched his second Championship goal since returning from a long term ankle lay-off that abruptly cut short his, and the Canaries’, impressive start to the season. If ever one player made this group tick, under this head coach, it is the powerful forward.

Sargent presses from the front, in tandem with Ashley Barnes, in the manner Wagner wants from his side out of possession. But in those transition moments on the counter he is a difference maker.

When Kenny McLean picked up the ball from a Baggies' turnover Sargent was on the move into the channel and racing clear to slot underneath the advancing Alex Palmer.

His equaliser against Southampton on New Year’s Day was of a similar ilk. His finishing at this level is not in doubt, nor his ability to unnerve Championship defenders with his athleticism, his drive and energy. How different would things look and feel around both Wagner and his football club had Sargent stayed fit?

He now has five goals from eight league appearances this season. Wagner again opted to withdraw him just past the hour mark rather than risk any fitness-related setback as the game ticked towards the red zone.

Lose Sargent down the stretch and it is hard to see how Norwich continue on this trajectory. Keep him fit and firing and there is plenty more to come.

3.  Crossroads game

West Brom would have moved 10 points clear of the Canaries had they won at Carrow Road. Even at this stage of the season that might have felt an insurmountable mountain to climb.

Defeat for the Baggies left them in fifth and some distance behind the likes of Leicester, Southampton, Ipswich and Leeds who have set the Championship standard.

Whether you still feel it is fanciful or feasible after such a bumpy ride, Norwich’s own top six ambitions remain in sight. Below West Brom is a pack of clubs from Hull City and Coventry to Middlesbrough, Watford and the Canaries appearing in the rear view mirror to contest perhaps only two play-off vacancies left.

Norwich’s midweek trip to Leeds, and another Daniel Farke reunion, now assumes even greater significance after cutting the gap to four points to the Baggies.

The manner they have hauled themselves back into contention, after a festive dip undid much of the good work following an autumnal slump that left Wagner fending questions on his future, is testament to the unwavering belief inside the camp.

A factor Wagner insisted had remained intact despite recent struggles.

Double jeopardy contests, like this one at Carrow Road, will become the norm down the stretch. Championship shoot outs when the lurch between endless possibilities and a downward spiral feel ever greater from one 90 minute test to the next.

Falling the right side of that line will prove the difference between achieving the club’s stated top six aim or falling short.  

4. Slip a gear, Borja

The 22-year-old Spanish winger might have had a sliver of extra motivation to produce against a side he was needlessly red carded against on Boxing Day. That waving of an imaginary card irked the match official, and Wagner, who was quick to draw his own red lines before he had exited the Hawthorns.

West Brom had been considerably the better side for the opening half-an-hour of that Christmas duel, but Sainz had just fashioned two excellent chances with that game goalless and still very much in the balance. Thereafter it became largely damage limitation, with the half-time introductions of centre backs Grant Hanley and Danny Batth.

But Sainz has retained Wagner’s faith and started his third consecutive league game for the Baggies' Norfolk return, since serving that one-game ban at Millwall.

A pre-season ankle injury checked his bid to make the type of impression his CV suggested was capable; a young player on the up with the goal contributions from last season in the Turkish top flight to suggest Norwich had pulled a fast one in enticing him to England via a relegation clause.

That superb goal against Sheffield Wednesday on his first Championship start in mid-December, and another composed finish against Huddersfield, felt like the start. But Sainz has stalled since.

There was plenty of honest graft in his latest 64 minute shift at Carrow Road but none of that latent attacking threat he clearly possesses.

Irrespective of where Norwich end up over the coming months, Sainz needs a big finish to his first tour in England to suggest he can become a key figure in what could be a post-Rowe era, the other side of this summer's transfer window.