Svensson's volley helps Norwich stride out at top

Norwich City 1 Nottingham Forest

Darren Huckerby watched from the stands as First Division leaders Norwich ground out a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Carrow Road.

Winger Huckerby completed his move to the Canaries from Manchester City before today's encounter and he saw his new team-mates survive an early scare before Mathias Svensson's goal proved the difference between the teams.

Forest almost went ahead with less than a minute gone.

Gareth Taylor, returning from suspension, combined well with Marlon King and as the home defence failed to clear, the ball fell to Andy Reid's favoured left foot but he placed it the wrong side of the post.

Leon McKenzie and Svensson were making their home debuts and after McKenzie became an instant hero in last week's East Anglian derby, Svensson showed what he can do with the opening goal after 15 minutes.

Ian Henderson raced down the right and delivered the perfect cross for the Swede to get between two Forest defenders and volley home from close range.

Henderson was proving to be a real menace down the right wing and he swung in another dangerous cross that neither Svensson nor Paul McVeigh could put away.

Gareth Williams and Reid tried their luck from distance but their powerful drives lacked the accuracy to trouble Robert Green in the Norwich goal.

King had a chance to level things just before the break when his clever turn in the box gave him the space to shoot but he too failed to make Green work.

Norwich went straight up the park and almost doubled their advantage but Craig Fleming's header came back off the post.

Henderson continued to make the right channel his own after the re-start and was unlucky when his effort flashed inches wide of the far post.

Green almost gifted Forest an equaliser when he flapped at Eugen Bopp's cross, allowing King to get in the header, but Fleming was on hand to see off any danger.

Svensson should have had his double on the hour when he latched on to McVeigh's clever through-ball but he shot straight at Darren Ward in the Forest goal.

Forest worked their way back into the game and began stringing the passes together but on too many occasions, they lacked the final ball.

McKenzie had a quiet game compared to last week but he almost put the game beyond Forest with 15 minutes to go.

However, his clever flick from Phillip Mulryne's cross fell kindly for Ward.

Eoin Jess passed up a golden opportunity moments later when he volleyed Reid's cross over the bar when a header would have been a better option.

Both teams had chances late on but Norwich held on to open up a three-point lead over West Brom.

Goal: Svensson (14) 1-0.

Norwich City: Green; Edworthy, Mackay, Fleming, Drury, Henderson, Holt, Mulryne (Francis, 82), McVeigh (Brennan, 69), McKenzie, Svensson (Roberts, 87). Substitutes not used: Crichton, Jarvis.

Nottingham Forest: Ward; Thompson, Walker, Morgan, Doig, Jess (Stewart, 87), Bopp, Williams, Reid, King, Taylor. Substitutes not used: Roche, Sonner, Gunnarsson, Tarka.

Referee: K Hill (Hertfordshire).

Man of the match:

Attendance: 16,429.