Norwich City beat Burnley convincingly to book their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup for only the third time in 15 seasons. Grant Holt and Simeon Jackson fired the Premier League side 2-0 ahead inside 12 minutes. However, Jay Rodriguez's looping header reduced the deficit – and then City's captain Holt missed a penalty.
Norwich were soon back in command when Andrew Surman swept home on the hour and substitute Steve Morison tapped in goal No4 from close range.
Paul Lambert, resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes to the Norwich line-up, retaining the back four from the 2-1 win at Queens Park Rangers. The reserve keeper Declan Rudd was given a chance to impress and made two early saves as Burnley made a bright start with Ross Wallace and then Rodriguez shooting from distance.
Norwich took the lead when Wes Hoolahan sent the ball across the penalty area from the left, and Holt arrived in the six-yard box to power a header past Lee Grant.
Burnley remained positive as a dangerous centre by Rodriguez was cleared by Daniel Ayala in front of his own net. It was, though, soon 2-0 and again the problems were caused down the left, this time with the full-back Adam Drury getting clear on the overlap to cross for Jackson to nod in at the near post.
Burnley were immediately back in the tie when Rodriguez got up to send a looping header into the far corner from Wallace's free-kick. The tie was now shaping up to be an end-to-end contest rather than one-way traffic.
Norwich went back on the offensive, with Jackson stretching the Burnley rearguard. The pressure paid off when City were awarded a penalty in the 31st minute after Andrew Croft's cross struck Charlie Austin on the arm, and referee Mike Jones pointed to the spot following a signal from his nearside assistant.
Holt, who had never missed a penalty since joining Norwich in the summer of 2009, stepped up – only to drill his shot wide of the left-hand post.
At the other end, Rodriguez let fly from 25 yards, with Rudd down quickly to make the save. The Norwich goalkeeper then had to be alert to rush out and clear an underhit backpass from Zak Whitbread, getting to the ball just ahead of Paterson.
Burnley were enjoying a decent spell and Ayala had to make a sliding tackle to block Austin in the six-yard box. There was a stoppage on 50 minutes when Ben Mee and Wallace collided after the ball bounced around the centre circle. Wallace eventually had to be replaced by Marvin Bartley.
On 53 minutes, Hoolahan was denied by a fine one-handed save from Grant. The ball dropped to Holt in the six-yard box, but his shot came back off the inside of the post, with Jackson then stabbing the rebound wide.
On the hour, it was 3-1. Norwich broke quickly, and the referee allowed a good advantage after Jackson was bundled over on the edge of the penalty area which allowed Surman to charge through and slot past Grant.
Norwich made a double change with 19 minutes left as Jackson and Holt were replaced by Morison and Aaron Wilbraham. The substitutes combined to make it 4-1, when Wilbraham's shot was saved by Grant, and Morison tapped in his eighth goal of the season.
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