Norwich City U23s grabbed a late equaliser courtesy of Anthony Spyrou at Carrow Road last night against Wolfsburg II in the Premier League International Cup.
The draw was a creditable result against the young Wolves with the game having started off with an opening goal from Nelson Oliveira, one of three overage players allowed in the team.
It was the other two older lads that really made me sit up and take notice and it was this tweet in particular that piqued my interest.
Nelson Oliveira puts City in front! Matt Jarvis's shot is deflected out to the striker who slots it home!
NCFC 1-0 VFLW (34) pic.twitter.com/zVopMQCVMC
— Norwich City Academy (@NorwichCityAcad) December 13, 2018
Yep, you read that correctly, Nelson scored after a deflected shot from Matt Jarvis (!) fell kindly for him.
Matt Jarvis.
I”m not one of those fans that get on his back because he can’t help being injured and while it has been hugely frustrating to see such a well-paid player unavailable, it has not been deliberate on his part.
The recruitment team and Alex Neil were arguably at fault to want to sign such an injury prone player but that’s an argument for another day.
The other older player was Kenny McLean, who finally returned to action for the first time in around three and a half months. His return can only help with squad depth as the fixtures pile up over Christmas and the new year.
Wolfsburg ended up taking a 2-1 lead with McLean and Jarvis rested for the second half and it was one of their replacements, Anthony Spyrou that got an 81st-minute equaliser to snatch a point from a very good visiting side after a Simon Power cross.
City wasted several good chances to win the game at the end as the tables turned again but the draw leaves City needing to beat Spurs U23s in January to reach the Quarterfinals of the competition.
Nice to see Jarvis and McLean back, eh?!
Norwich U23: McCracken; Kamal, Odusina (C), Jones, Richards; Payne, Phillips (Coley 78); Power, McLean (Spyrou 46), Jarvis (Scully 46); Oliveira. Unused subs: Johnson (GK), Ekumah Goals: Oliveira (34), Spyrou (81)
Booked: Oliveira (foul on Hanslik, 41), Phillips (fouls on Itter, 55)
OTBC