English Premiership
Norwich beat hapless Villa
2012-05-13 20:07
Norwich - Norwich City completed a successful first season back in the Premier League with a 2-0 victory against an Aston Villa side who will be glad to see the back of this campaign.
First-half goals from Grant Holt and Simeon Jackson proved enough for the Canaries to win for the first time in five games, and Paul Lambert's team end the season in 12th place.
Villa were already safe before they made the trip to Carrow Road, but this has been a shocking season for them and they cross the line just two places and two points clear of the relegation zone.
The Canaries carried momentum into this game after their 3-3 draw at Arsenal last weekend, and their unchanged team got off to a dream start here, opening the scoring with just eight minutes played.
Holt was the scorer, bundling a free-kick into the net from close range past Villa goalkeeper Shay Given to net for the 15th time in the Premier League this season.
There was a carnival atmosphere in the Carrow Road stands, and the home fans were celebrating again midway through the first half when Norwich doubled their lead.
Carlos Cuellar is one of several Villa players set to move in on the summer, but the Spaniard will not want to remember what could be his farewell appearance.
He inadvertently headed the ball into the path of Jackson, who slotted past Given at the second attempt for his third of the season.
The hosts thoroughly deserved their interval lead, with only some fine stops from Given preventing them from scoring more goals.
The closest Villa came to scoring was when Norwich 'keeper John Ruddy tipped a Gabriel Agbonlahor shot onto the woodwork, and the away fans occupied themselves by booing unpopular manager Alex McLeish as they slumped to a tenth consecutive game without a win.