Norwich City vs Luton Town. Sky Bet Championship.
Carrow RoadAttendance25,846.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Norwich City and Luton Town at Carrow Road as Carlton Morris scored the winner for the Hatters; Kenny McLean sent off for home side.
Tuesday 18 October 2022 23:32, UK
Carlton Morris came back to haunt his former club Norwich as Luton recorded a hard-fought 1-0 win at Carrow Road to move up to fourth in the Championship.
The striker scored the decisive goal in the 62nd minute to condemn the Canaries to a third consecutive loss.
The home side would have gone top with a win, but turned in a poor performance which was compounded by the sending off of Kenny McLean just after the Luton goal for appearing to strike Tom Lockyer.
Norwich were booed off at the end while the visiting fans were understandably ecstatic.
A dull first half produced little goalmouth action - and just one effort on target.
That came in the 25th minute when Norwich's top scorer Josh Sargent latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the box and fired in a low drive that Ethan Horvath did well to parry.
Luton had started well and carved out the first clear opening of the night in the 13th minute, with Morris out-muscling Liam Gibbs before sending in a teasing low cross into the six-yard area which only narrowly eluded Harry Connick.
The Canaries had most of the ball but could do little with it in the face of some determined defence.
And they had to wait until just before half-time for their second decent opportunity, with Teemu Pukki cutting inside onto his favoured right foot after a quick break, only to sky his shot well over the top.
The hosts, who were booed off by some fans at the break, suffered a blow at half-time when Sargent failed to re-appear after injuring his right thigh earlier in the game.
Nevertheless the hosts came out looking as though they meant business and spurned a good chance to take the lead just 45 seconds in when Danel Sinani blasted well over from inside the box after some good approach work from his colleagues.
Aaron Ramsey went a lot closer from distance as Norwich continued to press, but it was Luton who got their noses in front just past the hour mark.
When Ben Gibson coughed up possession in midfield the ball fell kindly for Morris who moved forward with pace and turned Grant Hanley one way and then another before sending a low shot into the far corner of the net.
Almost from the kick-off Gabriel Sara's deflected long-range shot clipped the upright but Norwich's hopes of getting back into the game suffered a big blow when they were reduced to 10 men at the resulting corner.
When the ball came over McLean appeared to catch Lockyer in the face with his hand and referee Oliver Langford had no hesitation in brandishing a red card.
Dean Smith's side continued to battle against the odds and wasted a good chance to equalise 10 minutes from time when Pukki slipped his marker and burst into the box, only to send a curling effort just wide.
Norwich's Dean Smith: "It was one of those games when you think the world is against you. I thought we had control of the game tonight, knocked the ball around well but we just struggled in the final third, our final pass was often lacking. We had some good chances over the course of the game - I just felt we had enough good players out there to open them up.
"My feeling is one of total frustration. We have now lost three on the spin and although we deserved to get beaten at Watford I thought we deserved to win the other two (against Preston and Luton tonight)."
Luton's Nathan Jones: "I am very proud of the lads - they are a wonderful group and we are in a really good place at the moment. It was a magnificent win against a good side and now we are unbeaten in seven, which is a great achievement in any league and especially in the Championship, given the relentless nature of it.
"I thought we could have been better in possession tonight and didn't create as much as I would have liked but I thought our defending was excellent, which it has to be when you come to a place like this."
