Stoke 0 Norwich 1: Jonny Howson's first-half strike steered Norwich to their second Premier League win of the season as they defeated Stoke at the Britannia Stadium.

The Canaries took advantage of sloppy play from their opponents in the 34th minute as Howson collected the ball from Anthony Pilkington and beat Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who might have done better, from outside the box.

Norwich had already hit the crossbar through Ryan Bennett and were good value for their lead, with a shot from Marko Arnautovic that whistled just over being the closest a subdued Potters side came in the opening 45 minutes.

Stoke improved after the interval and looked unlucky not to be awarded a penalty when Leroy Fer had a hand on Kenwyne Jones in the area, before Begovic pulled off a smart save to keep out a Robert Snodgrass shot.

With both clubs struggling for goals this season, a tight affair had been expected and Norwich boss Chris Hughton will be delighted to have emerged from the contest with all three points.

They take his side – whose victory at Manchester City in May was their only other away league win in 2013 – to a total of seven points from six games this term, and up three places to 14th in the table.

They leapfrog Stoke, who are now 15th and also on seven points from six matches.