Premier League Match Report: Bournemouth 0-0 Norwich City

Norwich City held Bournemouth to a goalless draw at the Vitality Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday to earn a vital point, as the Canaries stretched their winless run in the league to four games in a row. 

Daniel Farke’s side was under pressure to turn their fortunes around following a 5-1 humiliation at the hands of Aston Villa heading into the international break and a point away from home against an in-form Bournemouth side is likely to be seen as welcome returns by the club faithful. 

Boosted by the return of Tim Krul in goal, the Canaries were the less fancied side heading into the contest while Eddie Howe was forced to start Dominic Solanke ahead of Joshua King, who was left on the bench due to fatigue.

The first-team half turned out to be a rather unspectacular one as chances were few and far between, with both the teams cancelling out each other in the middle of the park.

Bournemouth, though, had a guilt-edged opportunity to break the deadlock when Diego Rico’s searching cross from the flanks found Callum Wilson, who held the ball up and slipped it through for Solanke, only for Krul to deny him an opener with a sharp save at his near post. 

Norwich came to life only once in the first-half when Teemu Pukki’s lung-busting run created something out of nothing for the visitors but the Finnish international was unable to cap off a fine individual move with a clinical finish. 

The hosts came close once again after the interval just before the hour-mark when Callum Wilson’s flicked effort off Rico’s cross just dropped wide of the far post. 

Norwich, too, had a few glimpses of goal, with Kenny McLean shooting over the bar from a rather presentable opportunity before Pukki called Aaron Ramsdale into action between the sticks with a low drive.

Both the managers played their cards by bringing on a few impact players off the bench and Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld came close to making the difference, forcing a regulation save from Krul in the latter stages of the game.

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In the end, neither team did just enough to turn one point into three in what turned out to be a rather low-key encounter on Matchday 9 but Norwich City will undoubtedly be the happier of the two sides with the outcome.
Here’s how some of the Norwich fans reacted to the goalless draw