Josh Sargent at the double as Norwich beat 10-man Blackburn

Josh Sargent’s brace gave Norwich a 2-0 win over 10-man Blackburn at Ewood Park in the Championship.

The USA international was lively all afternoon and had chances to open the scoring before he finally did so from the spot in the 45th minute after he was brought down by Blackburn’s Sean McLoughlin, who was sent off for the challenge.

Blackburn produced a spirited second-half performance and Augustus Kargbo was denied on the hour by a sensational Vladan Kovacevic double save.

But there was no doubt Sargent was the difference maker in the game and this Norwich team and made the game safe in stoppage time with a powerful finish for his sixth goal in all competitions.

Norwich’s fans serenaded the striker and will hope he’s still at the club on Monday evening.

The Canaries were quickly into their stride as Ben Chrisene forced Balazs Toth into a fingertip save in the eighth minute and he showed smart reflexes 10 minutes later to claw behind from Papa Amadou Diallo, who was able to race into the area to get a shot away.

Sargent began to show his menace and had two brilliant chances to put the visitors ahead.

First, he rose to meet Chrisene’s pinpoint cross but planted a header wide when well placed before an even better chance in the 32nd minute saw him effortlessly roll Dom Hyam only to lash high and wide from 12 yards.

The game swung decisively in Norwich’s favour on the stroke of half-time when they gained a goal and man advantage after Sargent ghosted in behind McLoughlin to race onto a flick-on and the Rovers defender pulled him to the ground, leaving referee Ben Speedie no option but to show a red card.

Sargent stepped up and whipped his penalty clinically into the bottom-left corner to continue his streak of scoring in every league game this season.

The visitors were indebted to Kovacevic on the hour as he preserved their lead with a remarkable double save to deny Kargbo.

First, he deflected the Sierra Leone international’s far-post header onto the post before recovering to foil the striker’s follow-up at point-blank range.

Toth had to be alert at the other end to parry away Ante Crnac’s curling shot from 25 yards but Rovers were once again denied by Kovacevic with 20 minutes to go as the keeper was out quickly to smother Ryan Hedges’ effort in the six-yard box after the ball fell kindly to him.

Norwich withstood the late pressure and made the game safe in the first minute of stoppage time when Sargent broke up the pitch, shifted onto his right foot and unleashed an unstoppable drive into the top corner.