Norwich City vs Middlesbrough. Sky Bet Championship.
Carrow Road.
Report and highlights from the 0-0 draw in the SkyBet Championship between Norwich City and Middlesbrough at Carrow Road; Emi Buendia sees red for the leaders; neither side registers shot on target in opening hour
Saturday 30 January 2021 19:40, UK
Emi Buendia was sent off as Middlesbrough picked up a deserved point at Championship leaders Norwich.
Boro will maybe feel they should have taken all three following Buendia's 66th-minute red card, although neither side forced either keeper into any saves of note in a drab 0-0 draw.
The Canaries failed to muster a single shot on target as Mario Vrancic dragged their best chance wide early on, while Jonny Howson's tame header was the only time the visitors really threatened.
Daniel Farke's Norwich remain top of the tree and have a healthy seven-point lead ahead of the 3pm kick-offs, while Boro remain three points outside the play-offs.
Neil Warnock's Boro came with a clear gameplan to frustrate their usually free-flowing hosts and they executed it perfectly.
The only chance the Canaries managed to create from opening play in the entire game came early on and it was down to a wonderful piece of individual brilliance from Vrancic. He beat two Boro midfielders with a neat piece of skill but could only drag his shot wide from just inside the box.
Apart from that, the only sights of goal for either side in the first half came from set-pieces. Neither Dimitris Giannoulis nor Lukas Rupp could direct difficult headers on target for Norwich, while Yannick Bolasie headed well over the bar for the visitors and Dael Fry's volley was blocked by Teemu Pukki.
The first 15 minutes of the second half saw the game open up slightly as the visitors clearly believed they could snatch a winner. But despite the endeavour from both sides, Lukas Rupp's blocked shot was the closest either team came to testing a keeper, let alone netting an opener.
It wasn't until just after the hour-mark that Howson's tame header registered as the game's first shot on target and Tim Krul had to be alert moments after that to smother a deflected Marvin Johnson shot.
Boro's belief was strengthened on 66 minutes as Canaries playmaker Emi Buendia was sent for an early bath. He was deservedly shown a second yellow card for a late challenge on George Saville in the middle of the park.
But despite their man advantage, they couldn't force the issue. Norwich sub Przemylsaw Placheta's low drive across goal from a tight angle was the best chance in the final 20 minutes, not that it was ever worrying Marcus Bettinelli in the Boro goal.
Former Norwich midfielder Jonny Howson bent an effort over from range for the visitors, who saw a Paddy McNair free-kick blocked by the wall with the last kick of a game that will not live long in the memory.
Handed his Middlesbrough debut barely 24 hours after completing his move from Preston, Darnell Fisher's man-marking job on Todd Cantwell was mightily impressive.
A full-back by trade, Fisher found himself in all sorts of positions as he never let the creative midfielder out of his sight.
It is unlikely to be his usual role under Neil Warnock but it was the perfect way to start his career on Teeside.
Norwich's Daniel Farke: "It was of course not necessary but it feels harsh on him and also unfair. Emi is a player who gets so many tackles against him, so many hits, and has to handle much pain during a game. So for him to be sent off feels very very harsh, especially in a game where elbows were in the air - there is a fear Max Aarons has a broken nose from an elbow against him.
"It was costly for us because 11 v 11 we would have won. He was punished enough to miss the rest of this game and now he misses the next two games. It feels harsh but we can't change much. It was a difficult game as I expected. They came here with nothing to lose and when Boro are spot on in their defence it is difficult to create chances against them. We didn't create enough to score a goal. We lacked energy where it counts in the final third."
Middlesbrough's Neil Warnock: "You've got to be happy coming here and getting a draw - but there's little tinge of sadness that we haven't got the three points. I think they've been fabulous today - the lads. They gave me absolutely everything. I'm really proud of them. After three games in five and a half days, the travelling that we've done, it's a remarkable effort.
"We got in some really good positions, but we just couldn't get a proper connection. I thought there were a couple of great runs but we didn't do enough in the final third, I can't get away from that. At the end of the first half I thought we started to gain the ascendancy and we stepped it up again at half-time."
Norwich are next in action at 6pm on Tuesday, February 2, when they travel to The Den to face Millwall, while Middlesbrough host Brentford at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday, February 6 at 3pm.
