Teemu Pukki and Jordan Hugill opened their Norwich City pre-season accounts as the Canaries recorded their third friendly win over German third-tier side Dynamo Dresden.
On a questionable surface, the German side provided Daniel Farke’s men with a decent test as they continued their preparations for the upcoming Championship campaign.
You could have forgiven City supporters for feeling a degree of nostalgia with the manner in which City scored their opening goal.
Teemu Pukki broke his goal-scoring drought after profiting from some fine work from Marco Stiepermann - who nutmegged the defender before playing the Finnish striker through on goal.
City’s talisman found the bottom corner with authority after driving his effort into the corner of the net to open his pre-season account.
Pukki’s first Canaries goal since February will have been a welcome sight for Farke, with the Finnish international converting his and City’s first chance of the game.
Dresden came close to an equaliser after 21 minutes when City failed to clear Chris Lowe’s free-kick and it fell to Yannick Stark, who hit his half-volley from distance just wide.
City struggled to build meaningful attacks during the opening period owed partially to the poor surface but equally because of the competition provided by Dresden.
Josh Martin was lively throughout the first-half with Farke encouraging the young winger to be unpredictable during City’s offensive phases.
His mazy run saw him tee up Xavi Quintilla on the edge of the area but the on-loan left-back saw his curled effort saved by Kevin Broll.
Dresden fought back into the game as the first-half progressed but lacked the decisiveness in the final third to equalise.
Jordan Hugill spearheaded City’s second-half XI, with Danel Sinani, Przemyslaw Placheta and Kieran Dowell all featuring after the interval.
Sam McCallum’s loose pass gifted Dresden an opportunity. The 19-year-old failed to find a City shirt with his crossfield pass and the German third division side stole possession but Ben Godfrey managed to clear Lowe’s cross to prevent the danger.
Kenny McLean’s flicked header from a Placheta corner saw the Canaries come close to doubling their advantage in the second period.
Hugill did open his City account after Danel Sinani’s excellent pass saw him left with only the keeper to beat.
The City striker retained his composure and coolly slotted the ball into the top-corner of the net to put the Canaries 2-0 ahead in the closing 10 minutes.
Farke’s side close their German tour with a fixture against SV Darmstadt on Saturday.
First-half XIs:
Dynamo Dresden: Broll, Knipping, Stark, Hartmann, Vlachodimos, Sohm, Weihrauch, Hosiner, Löwe, Becker, Mai.
Bookings: Will (foul on McLean, 70)
Norwich City: Krul; Mumba, Tettey, Godfrey, Quintilla; Skipp, Rupp; Martin, Stiepermann, Cantwell; Pukki.
Bookings: Skipp (foul on Mai, 11)
Goals: Pukki 12, Hugill 83
Second-half XIs:
Norwich City: McGovern; Aarons, Zimmermann, Godfrey, McCallum; Sorensen, McLean; Sinani, Dowell, Placheta; Hugill
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