Norwich City 2 Ipswich Town 0: Neil´s men go third with derby triumph

Goals from Bradley Johnson and Lewis Grabban see in-form Norwich City beat Ipswich Town 2-0 and climb up to third in the Championship.

In-form Norwich City moved up to third in the Championship with a 2-0 East Anglian derby victory over rivals Ipswich Town at Carrow Road.

Alex Neil’s side came into Sunday’s game, playfully dubbed the ‘Old Farm derby’, high on confidence after winning five games in a row.

And goals of contrasting quality from Bradley Johnson and Lewis Grabban proved enough to secure another triumph for Norwich, which sees them leapfrog Ipswich, Bournemouth and Watford while moving within a point of second-placed Middlesbrough.

Johnson opened the scoring in style after 24 minutes, the former Leeds United midfielder rifling a powerful shot into the top-left corner from 15 yards after Grabban had burst down the left and cut the ball back.

Freddie Sears was denied by John Ruddy as Ipswich sought a leveller, but it was the hosts who grabbed the game’s second goal after 62 minutes thanks to substitute Cameron Jerome making an immediate impact.

Having been introduced in place of Nathan Redmond, the pacy Jerome got the better of Christophe Berra and fired a shot goalwards, with the ball appearing to strike visiting defender Tyrone Mings and Grabban before finding the net.

Jerome spurned an opportunity after being played through one-on-one by Jonny Howson, but it mattered little as Ipswich slumped to a fourth straight derby defeat.