What happened?
Norwich’s win over Reading means Watford cannot mathematically catch Daniel Farke’s side, due to an eight-point gap between the clubs with only one game remaining.
Norwich got off to a slow start and were made to pay with Reading taking the lead through Michael Olise after 12 minutes.
In an erratic affair, Norwich equalised later in the first half through Kieran Dowell. The 23-year-old kept his composure to finish neatly following a short back-pass from Reading’s Duane Holmes.
Norwich were much improved after the break and Dowell fired in his second of the afternoon from a tight angle to give Norwich the lead.
Xavi Quintilla and Teemu Pukki got in on the act late in the second half to give Norwich an emphatic victory, which adds the icing on a remarkable campaign.
How impressive have Norwich been this season?
Norwich are on course to finish the 2020-21 season with one of the best records in their 119-year history.
Their record points tally in the second tier is 94, achieved in their 2003-04 and 2018-19 title-winning seasons, while their solitary season in League One finished with the 2009-10 title and an all-divisions record 95 points.
Just as eye-catching has been how Norwich have gone about it, improving a defence that even on winning the Championship two years ago had a few question marks attached to it.
But what really stands out is that Norwich have returned to the Premier League with the same manager that oversaw their original promotion and subsequent relegation.
Farke is the first to achieve that feat since Sean Dyche with Burnley from 2013 to 2015.
How prepared are they for the Premier League this time around?
Premier League relegation came with Norwich vowing they were looking at the bigger picture and longer-term growth. They have followed that by keeping a potential top-flight return in mind throughout their recruitment and tactical alterations during the Championship season.
Ben Gibson and Dimitris Giannoulis were both signed on loans attached to respective £8 million and £7 million obligations to buy if Norwich were promoted. Xavi Quintilla arrived on a similar deal, although he is some way short of the appearances needed to trigger his permanent move on promotion.
Anything else I need to know?
Plenty — for the inside story on how Norwich strolled to promotion, Go Deeper below.
(Photo: Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
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