A Ryan Hardie brace secured Argyle three points at Home Park against Norwich City on Saturday afternoon.
The Scotsman’s two goals within four minutes in the first 45 minutes placed Argyle in good stead before the break, but things weren’t made simple as Josh Sargent clawed a goal back just 43 seconds in the second half.
Despite mounting pressure from the visitors, Miron Muslic’s side held onto the lead and claimed victory for the second time in four Sky Bet Championship matches.
Argyle made two changes to their starting XI from the previous match against Watford, with Jordan Houghton and Bali Mumba replacing Tymoteusz Puchacz and Darko Gyabi.
Conor Hazard stood behind the central trio of Julio Pleguezeulo, Kornel Szucs and Nikola Katic, with Matty Sorinola and Bali Mumba providing defensive support on either side. Houghton and Adam Randell manned the middle, with Hardie, Michael Obafemi and Mustapha Bundu providing the attacking threat on a sunny day at Home Park.
The Greens started with the ball and within 45 seconds had already forced the Norwich defensive line and Angus Gunn into action. A long Szucs throw-in bounced around the box before being headed towards goal by Katic. Despite the easy save by the Scottish international, the positive start was received well by the loud Green Army.
After dealing with the opening pressure, several minutes of ‘rugby-like play’ ensued. Both sides kicked from one keeper to another, but it was the visitors that almost had the luck on their side when Hazard slipped inside his area. Luckily for Argyle, a quick recovery and toe poke cleared the ball away from the charging Sargent, ending the dangerous few seconds.
The Greens had to deal with attacking phases for the remainder of the opening ten minutes, with Sargent coming close again. Jack Stacey beat Pleguezuelo for pace – with some help from a slip by the Argyle number five – and delivered a fast whipped ball across the six-yard box met by the American. However, he could only get a slight touch with the acrobatic effort and watched his effort run away from the goalmouth.
As the game seemed to go stale, Home Park erupted twice within four minutes thanks to Hardie. Just before the 25th-minute mark, a long throw-in was recycled into the area by Randell and controlled perfectly by the Scotsman, who beat the offside trap from the visitors. After composing himself and seeing the metres of space around him, a calm and collected finish past Gunn followed, before running to the corner flag and infamously saluting the crowd.
Minutes later, one became two. With the Green Army behind them and the Theatre of Greens rocking, tidy play between Houghton, Hardie and Bundu - with a bit of luck – fell at the feet of the Argyle number nine to curl into the far corner and further punish the visitors.
Norwich were able to break some of the attacking intensity from Argyle with a quick counter and free-kick. The ball into the area was headed towards goal by Shane Duffy and forced Hazard into an excellent reactive save with his feet, though the offside flag was then raised anyway.
Argyle nearly had a third goal through a volley from an unlikely suspect. A corner was whipped into the box and hit towards goal by Katic on the swivel, with his effort narrowly running wide of the post.
The visitors had a chance just before the half-time whistle, but a diving save from Hazard again ended the threat. A foul occurred on the edge of the area, handing Marcelino Nunez the chance to test the Argyle keeper, but the midfielder had to watch his curling effort be saved by the tall figure in the Greens’ goal.
43 seconds into the second half, Norwich had clawed a goal back and a way back into the game. After winning the ball in Argyle’s half, a switch of play was reversed back to the right to Kellen Fisher, who’d switch flanks after a double substitution at the break. A clipped ball to the back post was controlled and volleyed into the back of the net excellently by Sargent, making the game 2-1.
With the momentum and travelling support on their side, Norwich hunted for an equaliser but caused Argyle no problems through the next 10 minutes of the tie. The visitors came close with a recycled corner in the 56th minute, but the cross back into the area was overhit and ran out of play for a goal kick.
Just after the hour-mark, Muslic turned to his bench looking for some much-needed energy to match the fiery second-half start from the visitors. Callum Wright and Darko Gyabi replaced Obafemi and Houghton seconds after an excellent sliding block on a Sargent effort from Katic in front of the Kawasaki Barn Park End.
Minutes after coming onto the pitch, Gyabi and Wright were both involved in Argyle’s first major chance of the half. An attacking break was set up by the two substitutes and Bundu, with the latter sliding in Hardie, who broke through the loose defensive line of Norwich. The Scotsman managed to get an effort at goal using his left foot, but the strike lacked power and was saved comfortably by Gunn.
The back-and-forth second 45 continued and Hardie was again involved, but this time for his defensive efforts. A Norwich in-swinging corner was whipped towards the six-yard box and eventually fell to the feet of Hardie on the goal line to clear away and end the potential chance.
The hunt for an equaliser continued for the visitors, this time down the left wing through Borja Sainz. The Spaniard timed his run to perfection, beating the retracting Argyle back-five but could only watch his cross flash across the face of the goal and out of play with no touch from a player in yellow or green.
Five minutes before time, Hardie had a chance to score his and Argyle’s third of the game. A skilful and tidy run from Gyabi forward and across the pitch created room for Bundu on the left to deliver an inviting ball with the outside of his right foot to Hardie arriving at the back post, but he was unable to connect with the ball.
The sliding effort would be his last of the game, as a minute later Muslic made his final changes of the game. Freddie Issaka replaced the Scotsman, with Joe Edwards also coming on for Sorinola.
With a minimum of four minutes additional time to be played, Norwich played long and put the pressure on Argyle to hold onto their lead. However, a strong defensive effort and time management secured the victory in the Devon sun.
Argyle: 21 Conor Hazard, 2 Bali Mumba, 4 Jordan Houghton (18 Darko Gyabi, 63), 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 6 Kornel Szucs, 9 Ryan Hardie (35 Freddie Issaka, 89), 14 Michael Obafemi (11 Callum Wright, 63), 15 Mustapha Bundu, 20 Adam Randell (capt), 25 Nikola Katic (44 Victor Palsson, 77), 29 Matty Sorinola (8 Joe Edwards, 89). Substitutes: 31 Daniel Grimshaw (gk), Nathanael Ogbeta, 17 Tymoteusz Puchacz, 26 Muhamed Tijani.
Goals: Hardie 24, 28.
Norwich: 1 Angus Gunn, 3 Jack Stacey (16 Jacob Wright, 45), 4 Shane Duffy, 7 Borja Sainz, 9 Josh Sargent, 11 Emiliano Marcondes (29 Oscar Schwartau, 69), 17 Ante Crnac, 23 Kenny McLean (capt), 26 Marcelino Nunez (20 Anis Ben Slimane, 45), 33 Jose Corduba (15 Ruairi McConville, 77), 35 Kellen Fisher (25 Onel Hernandez, 77). Substitutes: 12 George Long (gk), 18 Amankwah Forson, 19 Jacob Sorensen, 49 AJ Bridge.
Goal: Sargent 46
Attendance: 16,560 (1,133 away).
Referee: Gavin Ward
