Norwich City remain top of the Championship thanks to 93rd-minute Teemu Pukki winner against Bolton

Norwich City 3-2 Bolton: Despite dominating the second half, inexperience began to show at the back for the home side as Bolton came close to grabbing an unexpected point

Mario Vrancic celebrates scoring Norwich's first goal (PA)

On Friday afternoon, when Daniel Farke was asked how he would overcome the dreaded “curse” of being awarded manager of the month for November, the German compared it to fighting battles in a Pirates of the Caribbean film. The last five minutes here were the closest thing to a Hollywood blockbuster this weekend was going to get, with a 93rd-minute winner from in-form Teemu Pukki closing off a late five-goal thriller.

These two sides are at polar opposites on paper. Norwich top of the league, Bolton second-to-bottom. Norwich have lost just one of their last 15 games, Bolton have won just one in the same amount of fixtures. Wanderers’ critical financial situation also meant their players now haven’t been paid in eight days. Even if it was actually possible to buy a win, owner Ken Anderson probably wouldn’t be able to afford it. It was far from plain sailing for the home side, but a dominant second-half display, and drama in the final minutes, saw Norwich retain top spot.

It was clear from the off Bolton hadn’t come to Carrow Road to just to sit back entirely to soak up the pressure. Though at times there were eight white shirts in their own box to fill up space, excluding keeper Ben Alnwick, Bolton took the game to the hosts early on, Jason Lowe forcing a save and Will Buckley poking just wide in the first ten minutes.

Mario Vrancic puts Norwich in front at Carrow Road (PA)

There were fears from Farke that his defence was on the inexperienced side, with three players all young enough to fit into an under-21 outfit. Centre-back Timm Klose had pulled out of the line-up with just minutes to kick-off, allowing 20-year-old Ben Godfrey to step in for his first start of the season and put in a solid performance.

Norwich’s first-half efforts mostly came from outside the box thanks to some co-ordination from Wanderers’ back four, which all flew wide and left Alnwick with little to deal with. But as time wore on, the Canaries took control, and the opener heading into half time lifted the team as it did the crowd. As Max Aarons found the ball with space aplenty on the right, he squared to Mario Vrancic in the middle, the midfielder firing into the bottom corner from just outside the box.

As you’d expect, this eased the pressure on the home side to then find more chances going forward. Although they weren’t as clinical as Farke would have liked, the attacks came wave after wave in the second half. Shot after shot blocked by a sea of white in the box as Bolton piled behind the ball.

Marco Stiepermann had been the catalyst in the middle for Norwich, feeding the ball out to allow Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendia to progress down the wings, and it felt only right the German got on the scoresheet himself. Jamal Lewis’s low ball in from the preferred left flank was scooped through to Stiepermann in the box to fire home his first ever league goal at Carrow Road.

Daniel Farke's Norwich City are still top of the table despite the late scare (Getty)

But while Norwich seemed to have all the possession, their confidence then got the better of them in the final third of the game. Maybe it was the naivety that Farke had feared, but the defence slowly allowed Bolton to creep back in. First came a lofted flick over the head from Wanderers left-back Andrew Taylor, that somehow landed in space at the back post, with an unmarked Sammy Ameobi quick to charge it over the line and give visitors some hope of an upset. Travelling fans were revelling in the irony of scoring just their fourth goal in 11 games – even jesting they were going to win the league.

The laughing in the away end then morphed into genuine cheers of hope with minutes to go, as the temperature of the game rose to boiling point. A goalmouth scramble and more poor marking allowed defender Mark Beevers to slam home an equaliser for Bolton, leaving the visitors on the cusp of an unthinkable, smash-and-grab point.

It took this season’s surprise package of Teemu Pukki to bring things back to reality as the misty Norfolk rain began to clear. The striker had been largely quiet throughout the game, making the odd contribution here and there, but Pukki came through when needed to bag his seventh goal in six games. Though the stats might suggest so, he’s far from the Canaries’ star player, but his effort was clinical. Finnish by name, finish by nature.

Despite the late scare, Norwich did ultimately deserve the win, taking into considering the amount of chances they’d created. Though they’re enjoying the moment for now – unexpectedly sitting six points clear of the play-offs – in the long-term they won’t be allowed such liberties against learned opposition.