Norwich City were beaten for the first time in 13 matches in an incredible encounter with Derby County at Carrow Road on Saturday.
Norwich comfortably strolled into a 2-0 lead on 31 minutes, having played some of their best football all season. This was without Jamal Lewis, Emi Buendia and Moritz Leitner too, three players assured of starting places when fit.
Goals from Ben Godfrey, who was deputising for Lewis at left back, and Teemu Pukki did the damage as Norwich took a deserved lead.
Derby were shell-shocked by the pace and possession football that Norwich played. It’s no exaggeration to say that they could hardly get a kick.
At this point, I was thinking “another before halftime and they’re done.” The way they were playing that didn’t look too much of a stretch either.
However, Derby had other ideas and City were punished twice in quick succession from corners and their inability to clear them, allowing the visitors to go into the break level, something that seemed well beyond them just 15 minutes earlier.
The second half was as crazy as any that we’ve seen this season, and we’ve seen a few.
Norwich re-took the lead on 81 minutes when Pukki converted Hernandez’s cross and that’s when the lights went out, well, some of them.
The whole pylon in the corner between the City stand and the River End went out. It was a little gloomier but perfectly alright to see. I understand now though that there were questions over whether the “Hawkeye” Goal-line technology was working.
The referee consulted both managers and the teams came off for fifteen minutes while the pylon lights were re-booted. This was bad for Norwich as we were in the ascendency again but good for Derby who had time to re-group, something which Frank Lampard admitted later.
When play did get underway again, re-starting on 81 minutes, it was Derby who came out guns blazing.
Some more weak defending saw the Rams equalise on 87 minutes before Jack Marriott scored the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.
Christoph Zimmermann won’t want to watch that one back as he was outmuscled by Marriott, who then chipped the ball over the advancing Tim Krul. This came from a route one kick from Scott Carson.
There was still time for Carson to deny Todd Cantwell with a flying save and then for Jordan Rhodes to crash a shot off the underside of the Derby bar but it wasn’t to be.
Not this time. A bridge too far.
OTBC