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‘It was a pleasure to be a part of’ – Cantwell thrilled to play key role in City’s crucial win at Everton

Todd Cantwell, left, is congratulated by Ben Godfrey after opening the scoring during Norwich City's win at Everton Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Paul Chesterton

The smile said it all as Todd Cantwell savoured Norwich City’s rejuvenating 2-0 win at Everton - and his third goal of the Premier League season.

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The 21-year-old had opened the scoring at Goodison Park in the 54th minute after being put through on goal by Teemu Pukki, calmly slotting past England number one Jordan Pickford.

Dennis Srbeny then came off the bench to make sure of the three points the Canaries deserved in injury-time, lifting Daniel Farke's team from the bottom of the table and bouncing back from a difficult run of six defeats in seven games.

"It was a pleasure to be a part of," Cantwell said. "We took the international break to gather ourselves, regroup and look at it as a new period. Coming here and getting a result like that was fantastic.

"The reality of it is that it's a very tough league, every game is a tough game and we've really got to be at our best to get a result.

"We were solid, we were compact, we looked dangerous on the counter-attack and we managed to win it 2-0, which is a fantastic result."

The England Under-21 international had scored during the 3-2 home defeat to Chelsea earlier in the season and during the epic Carrow Road win over Manchester City.

He continued: "I think today was the most important (goal) probably because we needed a good result and we've managed to come and get it.

"For me, honestly, scoring doesn't mean anything if we don't get a result so to get a goal and to get the three points is fantastic."

Cantwell had been switched to the right of midfield, with Emi Buendia starting on the bench, and worked hard defensively to protect Max Aarons.

While there were still some moments when the creative midfielder wasn't able to protect the ball as well as he would have liked, the Dereham youngster was very much part of a positive performance overall.

"If you don't concede you can't lose a game, that's probably a base to always go from," Cantwell added. "When we can defend the chances they had early on it gives you a boost.

"I said to a couple of the lads before the game, a win would do us the world of good and luckily we've got that and we can move on from it.

"To be fair to Zimbo and Ben I thought they were fantastic."

Cantwell was replaced by Buendia in the 80th minute after treatment on his left ankle and was wearing a protective boot after the game, but wasn't too concerned.

"It's just precautionary," he concluded. "I got a bit of a kick on it and it's obviously not in the best shape at the moment but I don't think it's anything to worry about."