In a result not many would have predicted, Preston put three goals past Norwich City to come away from Carrow Road with a 3-2 win on Saturday.
It was an end to end enthralling game and after a poor start two goals from Emil Riis and a first league goal for Troy Parrott gave The Lilywhites a hard earned victory.
3 goals in one game
Four goals in the first 12 league games and then we go and score three away to a side who were unbeaten at home. Hopefully it’s a corner turned now and it was important where the goals came from as well.
Riis has now scored three in his last two games and he took his double on Saturday very well. A first header for the club back across the goal was very nicely taken.
His second goal showed his confidence is coming back as he struck the ball first time from an Alvaro Fernandez cut back giving Tim Krul no chance.
Finally Troy Parrott got off the mark in the league with the match winner. It took a deflection but it was from a tight angle and it was good to see him take it on in the first place. He injured his hamstring in the celebrations so it would be a shame to see him sit out a few games straight after the relief of getting that goal.
Fantastic Fernandez
There’s no doubting Alvaro Fernandez is the first choice for that left-wing back role now. He got the assist and was man of the match on Wednesday and was superb again on Saturday providing for Riis once more.
He battled hard with Max Aarons all game and was up down that wing constantly. He was key in the counter attack and was quick to intercept the ball which led to our second goal.
He clearly is enjoying himself as well and you could see he was buzzing at the end of the game and couldn’t wait for Ryan Lowe to do his fist pump. He could be Sepp van den Berg mark two. We fell in love with him and Fernandez is well on his way to falling into that category as well.
A young player getting their first chance of regular first team football in an environment that they enjoy. Seeing how much it means to his teammates and the fans. He could be a crucial player this season.
Browne lucky to escape without serious injury
In the first half Norwich’s Sam Byram made a shocking challenge on Alan Browne. With his studs up he went in very strong on Browne’s knee. The referee was looking right at it but only gave a yellow card for the offence.
Replays have shown it should definitely have been a straight red, with Byram’s challenge out of control and unnecessary. It looked painful for Browne but it could have been a lot worse.
It would have left us short on that side as Brad Potts had to miss the game after feeling unwell in the warm up. Indeed quite a few of the team had been suffering with a bug which makes the win even more remarkable.
Subs show our depth
We may have an unbalanced squad with some areas weaker than others but it’s depth was tested on Saturday. With knocks in the game to Robbie Brady, Sean Maguire and Troy Parrott the bench had to be fully utilised.
Parrott replaced Maguire at half time and scored the winner. Ben Woodburn came on for Brady and set up Parrott for that goal. Daniel Johnson’s experience helped during the end when he helped wind the game down. We also had Andrew Hughes and Ryan Ledson come on to see the game out. It was a strong bench and they all played their part.
Hopefully none of the injuries and too and though because the games come thick and fast now with five games still to come before the end of October.
Time to kick on
Before these last two wins it had been a frustrating season for Preston for obvious reasons. The failure to find the back of the net had cost us points and it was a case of ‘what if?’
Now six points in a week has put us in 8th place; two points off the play-offs and just five from the top. The table is incredibly tight right now with just 10 points separating the top 20 teams.
A good run can work wonders for you and see you catapulted up the table. Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City represented a tough run. But we’ve come away with seven points from it.
Next up is Bristol City who are winless in five and have conceded 10 in those games. We then face an inconsistent Stoke City and a struggling Huddersfield Town who we’ve already beaten once this season. It’s more favourable on paper than the previous games and if we could pick up another seven points from three games, things would look very rosy indeed.