Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty ImagesSteven Whittaker and Norwich were licking their chops as they struck for three first half goals in the Canaries' 4-3 win at Swansea on Saturday.

Norwich City may as well declare this Premier League season over. It surely does not get any better than a game that lurched from the sublime to the ridiculous at times before Chris Hughton's men prevailed at Swansea.

This was a modern-day Premier League classic. Pure and simple. Served up by two clubs who have been valuable additions to the top flight family. Norwich picked up their first away win of the season, but Hughton will not want too many more of these pulsating dramas.

- Hughton: Tough to keep players happy

The Canaries improbably reached the interval three goals to the good after Steven Whittaker, Sebastien Bassong and a much-needed header from skipper Grant Holt embellished a superbly disciplined defensive shift to frustrate the Swans as well as take them on at their own game going forward.

Michael Laudrup's expression when the camera panned away from Holt following the third visiting goal a minute before the interval was priceless. The cool Dane looked a picture of distress as he sunk further into his seat. But fair play to the Swansea manager and his players for quite the breathless response. The impressive Michu slammed home an early second half lifeline before Jonathan de Guzman rifled past Mark Bunn from close range before the clock had ticked past the hour mark.

Frankly, there looked one winner at that stage and it was the men in white. Urged on by a vocal home crowd, the Canaries were pushed even further towards Bunn's goal. It was a suffocating, full-court press at times and there appeared little prospect of escape.

But a nine-match unbeaten run coming into this sternest of tests in Wales told you everything you needed to know about the character that runs through Hughton's squad like a rich seam. Ashley Williams hauled down Holt for what initially offered little more than a valuable pause in the action. A chance for Norwich to catch their collective breath. Until the excellent Robert Snodgrass guided a left-footed free kick up and over the home five-man wall and a yard inside Gerhard Tremmel's left-hand upright. It was a goal to quell the gathering storm.

Swansea tried to up the ante again but it was as if their earlier exertions had sapped their strength. Michu headed home a third two minutes into added time after Bunn failed to anticipate de Guzman's floated cross, but in the end, the Canaries survived.

Swansea's impressive wins over the likes of West Brom and Arsenal in recent times sparked some commentators to mention Laudrup's outfit in European qualification terms. That was fanciful in the extreme. The Canaries moved within a point of their defeated foes after this win. The key statistic for both is the gap in points to the bottom three which is now verging on double figures.

Last season both Norwich and Swansea proved they could cut it with the big boys. On this evidence, both will flourish for some time to come.

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