Norwich City vs Bristol City. Sky Bet Championship.
Carrow RoadAttendance26,295.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Norwich City and Bristol City at Carrow Road on Saturday | Borja Sainz's equaliser cancelled out Hayden Roberts' opener to earn a valuable point for the play-off chasing Canaries
Saturday 20 April 2024 18:15, UK
Norwich took another tentative step towards the Championship play-offs as they came from behind to pick up a hard-fought point in a 1-1 draw with Bristol City.
The Canaries failed to make it nine straight home wins at Carrow Road but the draw took them level with fifth-placed West Brom and kept them six points clear of the chasing pack with games running out.
The in-form Robins created plenty of chances and deservedly took the lead early in the second half when Haydon Roberts finished off a slick move to score his first goal for the club.
But Norwich showed what they were made of by equalising from their next attack, Borja Sainz tapping the ball home after being set up for the easiest of chances by the Canaries' top scorer Josh Sargent.
Both sides had their chances in an entertaining first half, with the visitors wasting the best of them after just 13 minutes.
Mark Sykes found himself with a clear run on goal after being fed by Scott Twine but, despite having plenty of time to assess his options, he was well off target as he clipped the ball over the advancing Angus Gunn.
Twine also hit the crossbar with a deflected free-kick as the Robins gave as good as they got, while at the other end Sargent saw an early shot come back off the woodwork after being picked out on the edge of the box by Sainz.
The Canaries almost took the lead in unlikely fashion two minutes after the restart when a low Marcelino Nunez corner ran along the line, with no-one in a yellow shirt able to get a touch.
But it was the visitors who took the lead on 56 minutes after putting together a slick move on the left. It started with Tommy Conway finding the overlapping Cameron Pring in space and ended with Roberts sweeping home in emphatic fashion.
Norwich found the perfect response however, equalising within a couple of minutes as a ball through the middle caught out the Robins' defence, allowing Sargent to square for Sainz, who managed to stay onside to apply the simplest of finishes.
As the game opened up it took a superb reaction stop from Max O'Leary to keep out a stinging drive from the recently introduced Jon Rowe while Gunn had to be at his best to foil Anis Mehmeti when the ball broke kindly for the Robins' substitute.
But both defences held firm as the game ended all square, a fair result for both teams.
Norwich's David Wagner:
"I am satisfied with the point - if you can't win a game it is important you take something from it and that is what we have done today.
"It is another small step closer to our target and the gap between ourselves and the teams chasing us is the same, so that is good.
"We were up against a good side and our performance and energy levels were not as high as they have been recently. We know we can play a lot better than that - but players are only human.
"I can't complain about their effort and attitude but we were not at our best level today.
"There were a lot of turnovers, giving them opportunities and we were fortunate we had a top level keeper like Gunny (Angus Gunn) out there.
"He was outstanding today - and has shown why I feel he is the best keeper in this league."
Bristol City's Liam Manning:
"There were a lot of positives from the game. In the first half especially we took the game to them and created a lot of good chances and I suppose the only disappointment was that we failed to take them.
"This is really tough place to come but we went out and played really well against a very good side.
"I guess it says something that we have come away from here with a point and are still a little bit disappointed.
"I thought the players were excellent - they showed a lot of quality on the ball and the work-rate and commitment was there too.
"We are on a good run now, I think that's six unbeaten and we want to maintain these levels in the next two games, to finish the season in the best way possible."
