Canaries too swift and clever for the Black Cats

IF Steve Bruce was 'baffled' by Norwich City's demise when he last took Sunderland to Carrow Road two years ago, he will not be holding such a viewpoint this morning.

The only thing concerning the Sunderland boss after his latest visit to his former club will be the state of his own team - after they slipped to a third defeat from the opening six matches of the Premier League season.

Defeat also ensured the Black Cats are still searching for their first away win on a Monday night since the Premier League's inception, but the manner of the reversal was more worrying.

Norwich, bottom of League One when Sunderland claimed a 4-1 Carling Cup victory here in 2009, illustrated just how far they have come since then under the clever coaching of Paul Lambert.

A goal in each half from Leon Barnett and Steve Morison did the damage, while Bruce cut a puzzled figure in the technical area as he assessed the mess with his assistant, Eric Black.

Kieran Richardson improved the scoreline in the closing stage with a low drive, but this was a night for Sunderland to forget.

Beneath the wayward passing and the slack marking, perhaps the biggest difference between the two teams was the team ethic running through the team in bright yellow from start to finish.

Norwich, to a man, impressed, working as a unit and hunting in packs, while Sunderland struggled to find the cohesion and the intensity of performance required until it was too late.

It would have been harsh to leave out any of the players that earned a first win of the season over Stoke City eight days earlier, so Bruce stuck with the same team in the hope the momentum from the success would carry over.

That meant the captain's armband was again worn by John O'Shea, with Lee Cattermole named on the bench.

However, it did not take long for the Irishman and the rest of his defence to find themselves under significant pressure.

Striker Morison, Norwich's summer signing from Millwall who was playing non-league football with Stevenage not too long ago, was heavily involved. After striking low into the arms of Simon Mignolet, his presence created a fantastic chance for Wes Hoolahan.

Morison distracted Titus Bramble as he shaped to head a long punt up field from goalkeeper John Ruddy, which ran through for Hoolahan. The skilful forward put too much on his lob, with Mignolet off his line, and Sunderland survived.

Undoubtedly those two moments ruffled the Sunderland defence.

The tenacity and tempo of Norwich's opening quarter of an hour caused Mignolet to look shaky, while Wes Brown and Bramble had to find their feet.

Yet the sloppiness that was in the whole team's passing in the early exchanges remained in patches all night.

They did, though, have chances of their own. Craig Gardner, whose goals from midfield for Birmingham last season convinced Bruce to pay £5m for him, should have done better with the first one.

Instead he side-footed over from 20 yards when Nicklas Bendtner picked him out unmarked.

Minutes later it was Bendtner's turn. His first touch from Stephane Sessegnon's pass created the space for a neat volley turned away by Ruddy to his right.

Despite the marginal improvements, Norwich still took the lead and Sunderland's defending was questionable.

Bruce would have been satisfied by the way a corner was cleared, but they failed to make the most of that and Norwich worked themselves effectively down Sunderland's under-performing left side.

Winger Elliott Bennett played a clever wall pass with David Fox that got the defender in between Seb Larsson, who failed to stay with his man, and Richardson.

Bennett, from close to the touchline, rolled across the six yard box for Barnett to power over the line with ease after working ahead of Bramble.

The Canaries were singing and the Cats were licking their wounds.

If the silenced section of travelling supporters inside Carrow Road had wanted to see a turnaround in performance and the scoreline after the restart, they soon had their optimism erased.

The danger signs had already been there for all to see when Mignolet had to be alert to palm away a dangerous centre from left-winger Anthony Pilkington just seconds after half-time.

But then Pilkington was soon given a second chance. His driving run teed up full-back Marc Tierney to chip a clever centre out of the reach of the goalkeeper and Morison powerfully headed high in to the net after outjumping Brown.

After Ruddy had made an exceptional save to deny Bendtner from inside six yards, Bruce attempted to save the game by bringing on Ji Dong-Won and Connor Wickham for the ineffectual Sessegnon and Larsson.

And Wickham, an £8.1m buy from Ipswich given a hostile reception from start to finish, wasted a great chance to find the net immediately when he headed Ahmed Elmohamady's cross into the arms of Ruddy.

That sparked the best spell of pressure of the night for Sunderland, who made the nerves jangle in the closing stages when Richardson's low drive from 20 yards nestled in Ruddy's far corner.

Despite five minutes of added time, however, Sunderland still had no answer and a ridiculous back pass from David Vaughan, which conceded a corner, was the last move of the night and summed things up.

Matchfacts

Goals: Barnett (31, 1-0); Morison (48, 2-0); Richardson (86, 2-1)
Bookings: O’Shea (89, foul); Ruddy (90, dissent); Naughton (90, dissent)
Referee: Chris Foy (St Helens) 7
Attendance: 26,107
Entertainment: ***

NORWICH CITY (4-4-2): Ruddy 8; Naughton 7, Martin 7, Barnett 8, Tierney 7; Bennett 8 (Crofts 85), Fox 7, Johnson 7, Pilkington 8 (Vaughan 79); Hoolahan 7; MORISON 8 (Holt 79). Subs (not used): Rudd (gk), Surman, Martin, De Laet.

SUNDERLAND (4-4-1-1): Mignolet 5; O’Shea 6, Bramble 4, Brown 6, Richardson 4; Elmohamady 4, Gardner 5, Vaughan 6, Larsson 4 (Ji 68, 5); Sessegnon 4 (Wickham 68, 5); BENDTNER 6. Subs (not used): Westwood (gk), Turner, Cattermole, Colback, McClean.

MAN OF THE MATCH
STEVE Morison – from non-league to the Premier League, via the Championship, in two years and he ran Sunderland ragged.