Skip to content
Full Time After Extra Time This is a live match. Extra Time Half Time

Norwich City vs Preston North End. Sky Bet Championship.

Carrow RoadAttendance25,167.

Norwich City 1

  • J Maddison (34th minute)

Preston North End 1

  • T Barkhuizen (70th minute)

Norwich 1-1 Preston: Alex Neil earns point on Carrow Road return

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship clash between Norwich and Preston.

Alex Neil picked up a point on his return to Carrow Road as his Preston side picked up a hard-fought 1-1 against his former side Norwich.

The visitors went behind in the first half when James Maddison curled in a glorious free-kick, but fought their way back into it through Tom Barkhuizen. The second half lasted 59 minutes after an injury to one of the referees' assistants caused a long delay, but there still not enough time for either side to grab a winner as Norwich's run without a victory was extended to seven games.

After a low-key start it took 20 minutes for either side to carve out a decent opportunity - but what a chance it was for the hosts. Chris Maxwell came rushing out of his area after Wes Hoolahan had put Josh Murphy through, and it looked a certain goal when the Preston keeper missed the ball. But defender Darnell Fisher had got back to cover and was in the right place to block when Murphy attempted to convert.

It was a big let-off for Neil's side but there was no escape on 34 minutes when Fisher went from hero to villain by carelessly bringing Hoolahan down on the left-hand edge of the penalty with the visitors under no real pressure.

Maddison had the option of crossing or going for goal and he chose the latter with spectacular results, leaving Maxwell clutching at thin air as he curled home his fifth goal of the season.

Norwich went back into their shell after that timely boost and Preston almost equalised four minutes later when Alan Browne latched on to Jordan Hugill's knock-back before producing a wonderful overhead kick which came back off the crossbar.

Barkhuizen also sent a far-post header just wide while a brave block by Grant Hanley denied the visitors as they finished the first half on top. The Canaries might have stretched their lead nine minutes into the second half when it took a last-ditch tackle from Ben Davies to foil Hoolahan and Murphy's follow-up effort was deflected wide.

Also See:

Preston left-back Callum Woods then nodded Callum Robinson's cross straight at Angus Gunn when well placed inside the six-yard box before the visitors scored a deserved equaliser.

Norwich had defended well up to that point but were guilty of switching off at Gallacher's corner and Paul Huntington simply strolled into the danger area and headed the ball past an exposed Gunn, with Barkhuizen appearing to get a touch as it went in.

Alex Pritchard, playing his first match of the season for Norwich after injury, tested Maxwell from distance after coming on as a substitute before a bizarre incident saw play delayed when one of the assistants had to hobble off, with local referee David Thornhill, who was watching the game, eventually being installed as fourth official.

It meant 10 minutes of added time, with a couple of injuries adding to it but neither side could force a winner.

The managers

Daniel Farke: "After the delay it was difficult for us to find our rhythm at a time when we were pushing for the winner. I come from a time when there was just a referee and two linesmen and no fourth official and it would have been good if we could have just carried on with the game but these are the rules now.

"It was certainly better than that. I thought we started well and had some good chances and deserved to be ahead at half-time. In the second half we had more good chances and if we had made it 2-0 I am sure we would have gone on to win the game."

Alex Neil: "I was absolutely delighted with our performance today. We were up against a Norwich side with a lot of good players and I thought we were the better side today and deserved to win. We were excellent in spells and created the better chances over the course of the 90 minutes. I am proud of my players and it says it all that they were disappointed in the dressing room afterwards even though they had picked up a point away from home.

"We have got a few players back from injury and you could see that today. I think people should judge us by the results we are getting now and not by what happened during our difficult run, when we had a lot of players out."

Fantasy Six-a-Side
Fantasy Six-a-Side

Pick your team for England v Brazil for free to win the guaranteed £5k jackpot.

Around Sky