Article body analysed
Finn Azaz joined Southampton from Middlesbrough last summer Southampton moved into the Championship play-off spots as they ended Norwich City's four-match winning streak with victory at St Mary's. They climbed above Wrexham into sixth place on goal difference after Finn Azaz's 10th goal of the season proved enough to beat the Canaries. Norwich kept Daniel Peretz busy after the break, the Saints keeper denying Kenny Mc Lean, Kellen Fisher and Ruairui Mc Conville as the visitors again showed the resolve instilled in them since head coach Philippe Clement arrived in November. They could not find an equaliser, though, and Saints held out to extend their unbeaten run in league and cup to 13 games and boost their hopes of an immediate return to the Premier League following last season's relegation. Watch: Canary Call after Southampton v Norwich City EFL as it happened: Saints hang on for win, MK Dons beat Colchester Southampton made one change with Samuel Edozie replacing Cameron Bragg, his first start for the club in a league game since April 2024, while Norwich had Ruairi Mc Conville back in their defence after missing two games with a knee injury. The Canaries – with seven away victories behind them this season - looked the more confident side in the early stages and Anis Ben Slimane fired in a powerful effort which brought a good save from Daniel Peretz. Saints hit back with James Bree forcing Vladan Kovacevic into action and then having a goal disallowed as Edozie was adjudged offside. They did not have to wait long to open the scoring, though, as moments later Azaz burst into the box between two defenders after Cyle Larin flicked on a throw-in and kept his composure to lift the ball over Kovacevic to make it 1-0. Norwich sent on Danish midfielder Pelle Mattsson for the second half but it was skipper Mc Lean, scorer of some spectacular goals this season including a free-kick against Preston on Saturday, who breathed life into the visitors with a dipping shot which Peretz dived to his right to save. And the Southampton keeper excelled again by blocking Fisher's follow-up effort with his body after he had failed to hold Ali Ahmed's initial strike as Norwich continued to press on a ground where they have not won a league game since 2008. They hit the top of the crossbar in stoppage time when Liam Gibbs' cross deflected off the boot of defender Jack Stephens and were frustrated again just before the whistle by the impressive Peretz, who kept out Mc Conville's header as Saints just about hung on. Southampton have another home game on Saturday, against Oxford United, while Norwich will travel south again to take on Charlton Athletic – managed by former Saints boss Nathan Jones - at The Valley. Southampton boss Tonda Eckert told BBC Radio Solent: "You will have some games in the season when it comes down to the sacrifice of the players, the desire to win a game of football. "We had some quality moments up the pitch and just needed to be resilient at the other end - I'm very happy. "Double figures for Finn now, he's been working for that and now he has to make sure to keep going. "Southampton has not been known for being a team that suffers and accepts not having the ball for a couple of moments but being resilient - and we are making some good steps in that direction. " This video can not be played Tonda Eckert: 'We showed great resilience' Norwich head coach Philippe Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk: "We were the dominant team against a team in really good form - first half it was in the balance, but the second half was totally ours. "In total, we had more ball possession, more shots on target, more chances than them, more passes, more corners and several clear chances and the goalkeeper played the game of his life. "Those things happen in football but the way my team played was really impressive, for sure in the second half. "It's a really good performance, but we don't have the result we deserve. We need to continue in every game trying to push for great performances like this. I'm not busy with the ranking [table], I'm busy getting the best out of this squad. " After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 18th March 2026 at 21: 43 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Tonda Eckert Formation: 4 - 1 - 4 - 1 Manager: Philippe Clement Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Tonda Eckert Formation: 4 - 1 - 4 - 1 Manager: Philippe Clement Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Southampton are winless in their last three league meetings with Norwich City (D2 L1), since a 2-0 victory in the Premier League in February 2022. After a 1-0 victory in January 2008, Norwich City are winless in their eight league visits to Southampton since (D3 L5), conceding 20 goals in that run (2. 5 per game). Southampton have lost only one of their 11 home league games under Tonda Eckert (W7 D3), winning three of their last four matches since a 1-2 loss to Hull City in January. Indeed, only Ipswich Town (0) have lost fewer home games in the Championship in that time. Norwich City have won five of their last six away league games (L1), as many as in their previous 33 matches (D12 L16), while they could record three successive away league clean sheets for the first time since January 2018 (4). Southampton’s Finn Azaz has four goal involvements in six previous league appearances against Norwich City (3 goals, 1 assist). Match ends, Southampton 1, Norwich City 0. Second Half ends, Southampton 1, Norwich City 0. Attempt saved. Ruairi Mc Conville (Norwich City) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner by Daniel Peretz (Southampton). Assisted by Liam Gibbs with a cross. Attempt missed. Kellen Fisher (Norwich City) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right following a corner. Corner, Norwich City. Conceded by Jack Stephens. Pelle Mattsson (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Cyle Larin (Southampton). Delay over. They are ready to continue. Delay in match because of an injury Daniel Peretz (Southampton). Amankwah Forson (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Ryan Manning (Southampton). Fourth official has announced 7 minutes of added time. Corner, Southampton. Conceded by Kellen Fisher. Substitution, Southampton. Nathan Wood replaces Kuryu Matsuki. Foul by Paris Maghoma (Norwich City). Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Southampton) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Substitution, Norwich City. Amankwah Forson replaces Anis Ben Slimane. Substitution, Norwich City. Jacob Wright replaces Ali Ahmed. Ruairi Mc Conville (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Ryan Manning (Southampton). Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.


