Pilkington in the pink as Canaries stand firm

Norwich 2 Sunderland 1

The Canaries looked to be cruising when a second goal in eight days from former Newcastle defender Sebastien Bassong and a smart finish from Pilkington gave the home side a well-deserved two-goal lead.

But Craig Gardner pulled one back just before the break for Sunderland, who lost top scorer Steven Fletcher to injury at half time, only for a combination of poor finishing and fine rearguard action from Norwich to deny them an equaliser.