Norwich City 1-1 Derby County: Late Jerry Yates penalty earns point for Rams

Substitute Jerry Yates converted a stoppage-time penalty to earn Derby a dramatic 1-1 draw at Norwich and end a run of seven successive Championship defeats in the process.

Norwich looked to be heading for a third straight win, and a place in the play-off zone, when Josh Sargent scored his fourth goal in three games to put them in front midway through the second period.

But the Rams, who had parted company with manager Paul Warne the previous day, kept battling away and got their reward when Marcus Harness was brought down in the area and Yates kept his cool to earn his side a precious point under caretaker boss Matt Hamshaw.

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Neither goalkeeper had a difficult save to make in a drab first half, which saw struggling Derby more than hold their own against a misfiring home side.

The only moments of genuine excitement came early on when both sides had goals ruled out by tight offside decisions in the space of little over a minute.

Derby thought they had taken the lead when Lars-Jorgen Salvesen converted Ben Osborn's cross from close range but their joy was snuffed out when the flag went up.

It was a similar story in the very next attack as Lewis Dobbin latched on to a ball over the top before producing a tidy finish.

Norwich needed to raise their game after the break and, as they upped the tempo, Sargent was inches away from getting a decisive touch when Callum Doyle headed the ball back into the danger area.

Sargent then tested goalkeeper Jacob Zetterstrom with a fierce first-time drive which the Swede did well to parry away.

A goal was coming and it finally arrived in the 68th minute as a superb interchange of passes broke Derby's resistance.

The move saw Lucien Mahovo pick out Sargent and he played a fine one-two with Emiliano Marcondes before converting in emphatic fashion.

Norwich looked on course for a hard-fought win until the Rams equalised out of the blue from the penalty spot.

Jack Stacey was penalised for catching Harness in the head as he attempted to hook the ball clear and Yates sent Angus Gunn the wrong way from the spot to earn the visitors a long overdue point.

The managers

Norwich's Johannes Hoff Thorup:

"I'm not pleased because this is the third time this has happened this season, a player sticking his leg out in the box when he should be using his body. We simply have to learn from this because it has cost us.

"I also wasn't pleased with our first-half performance. We knew they would come here and sit deep, trying to disrupt the rhythm of the game, but we weren't good enough to break them down. It was very disappointing.

"In the second half it got a bit better and we scored a beautiful goal but when the score is just 1-0 you can always be caught out like we were.

"Had we been better in the first half, it probably wouldn't have ended like that."

Derby caretaker boss Matt Hamshaw:

"I think football can be the best and the worst game in the world and I have certainly experienced that.

"It has gone from being a really tough 24 hours to a really good 24 hours.

"There was a feeling of devastation in the dressing room yesterday because apart from being a good manager, Paul is also an incredible guy.

"Paul sent us a message before the game, that's the sort of guy he is, and I am sure Derby fans will remember him as the man who got their team promoted, not the one who was in charge during this bad run.

"He told us to go out there and do our utmost to win the game and although we had to rely on a late penalty to get a point I was really pleased with the way we played.

"Whoever takes over here - and I am sure there will be a lot of interest in the job - will have a good group of players.

"As for me, I would like to stay on and as it stands right now I will take the side again on Tuesday - but obviously that could all change."

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