Norwich City vs Coventry City; Sky Bet Championship
Norwich City vs Coventry City. Sky Bet Championship.
Carrow RoadAttendance26,682.
Norwich City 2-1 Coventry City: Amankwah Forson scores twice in stoppage-time to earn Canaries stunning win
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Norwich City and Coventry City at Carrow Road on Saturday; Amankwah Forson scores twice in stoppage-time to seal comeback victory for the Canaries.
Saturday 4 January 2025 18:40, UK
Substitute Amankwah Forson scored twice in stoppage time to earn Norwich a scarcely believable 2-1 win over Coventry at Carrow Road.
Frank Lampard's side looked set to take all three points courtesy of a well-taken first-half goal from Milan van Ewijk but were stunned as their hosts turned the game on its head at the death.
Forson took centre stage, curling home from just outside the area to level and then finishing off a late break with an emphatic finish to send the home crowd wild.
A third win in four games took the Canaries to within four points of the Championship play-off zone as the Sky Blues slipped to a first defeat in four under Lampard.
- Championship highlights | Table | Fixtures
- All you need to know - Streaming Sky Sports with NOW | Get Sky Sports
- Download the Sky Sports App to watch every Sky Sports+ game
- Live EFL on Sky Sports+ & how to watch | Get more EFL to your phone with WhatsApp
Coventry's Oliver Dovin was the busier of the two keepers in a lacklustre first half.
The Swede made a superb one-handed stop to deny Borja Sainz after Norwich's top scorer had been picked out by Marcelino Nunez and then did well to thwart Emiliano Marcondes from close range.
At the other end, Angus Gunn was a virtual spectator as both sides struggled to create decent openings but he was beaten in the 24th minute as the Sky Blues finally put together a move of note.
A swift counter attack saw Jack Rudoni slip the ball to the overlapping Jake Bidwell on the left and his accurate cross was side-footed home from inside the six-yard box by an unmarked van Ewijk to open the scoring.
The half-time lead certainly flattered the visitors, with neither side really deserving to be in front, and Norwich strove to redress the balance in a bright start to the second half.
Dovin was forced into another good reaction stop to keep out Marcondes' header from a Sainz cross before the Spaniard was thwarted by a last-ditch block by Bobby Thomas.
It was all Norwich as the game passed the hour mark, with Kenny McLean crashing a header against the crossbar.
But the visitors defended stoutly and should really have doubled their lead seven minutes from time when Brandon Thomas-Asante fired wide with a clear sight of goal.
That miss was to prove costly as Norwich substitute Forson scored twice to earn his side an incredible win.
The Ghanaian midfielder equalised a minute into added time with an excellent curling effort from the edge of the area and then smashed home a dramatic winner after fellow substitute Onel Hernandez had broke free down the left.
The managers
Norwich's Johannes Hoff Thorup:
"I normally tell players not to take too much notice of the what the press say after games but on this occasion I have told him to take it all in.
"It is well deserved because it hasn't been easy for him, a new player in a new country who hasn't been in the side much recently.
"He has found it difficult to settle, as many players do in this situation, but the other players have helped him and to have that happen at the end was very special for him.
"Overall, I was very proud of the way the players stuck to their task and kept believing they could get something out of the game despite not taking the many chances we created.
"It has been a good run but we have to stay cautious because we know in the Championship it can swing one way and then another. All we can do is keeping working hard."
Coventry's Frank Lampard:
"I feel desperately sorry for the players after that, they gave everything but those sort of things can happen in football sometimes.
"I thought it was a good disciplined performance for 90 minutes, with everyone working hard, but then the lad puts one into the top corner and that changes everything.
"We can't do much about that one and then another one goes in off a deflection.
"Up until then we had done really well against a good team. Brandon (Thomas-Asante) had a good chance to make it 2-0 and I'm sure we would have won it from there - but that's the ups and down of football.
"Obviously the lads are devastated but I have told them that I was very pleased with their overall performance."
