Norwich City vs Queens Park Rangers. Sky Bet Championship.
Carrow Road.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Norwich City and QPR at Carrow Road as the Championship leaders were held after Bright Osayi-Samuel's penalty cancelled out Teemu Pukki's earlier spot-kick
Tuesday 29 December 2020 23:09, UK
Championship leaders Norwich dropped points for the second time in four days after being held to a 1-1 draw by struggling QPR at Carrow Road.
After losing 1-0 at Watford on Saturday, the Canaries slipped up again as the visitors recorded a hard-earned point in a game of two penalties.
A dominant Norwich side looked as though they had won it when Teemu Pukki scored his 11th goal of the season from the spot with 15 minutes remaining but were pegged back nine minutes later as Bright Osayi-Samuel followed suit for the visitors.
Rangers went into the game without a win in eight but kept their high-flying hosts at bay with few alarms in a disjointed first half.
The Canaries went close after just five minutes when Emi Buendia forced a decent save out of Seny Dieng from a tight angle but that was a rare scare for Mark Warburton's side in the early stages.
Midfielder Mario Vrancic fired straight at Dieng after being set up by Buendia and the same player then lost his bearings and fired wide following a neat one-two with Max Aarons.
A couple of half-hearted penalty appeals from first Pukki and then Buendia were waved away by referee Oliver Langford.
That was about as good as it got for the leaders in the opening period, with Rangers soaking up the pressure in solid fashion and occasionally looking dangerous on the break.
Their best moment of the half came after 41 minutes when the impressive Ilias Chair broke the offside trap and raced through on the right, only to be pushed wide by the pursuing Christoph Zimmermann and being closed down by goalkeeper Michael McGovern.
Moments later the Northern Ireland international went down clutching his right hamstring after apparently overstretching and was relieved to see a Lyndon Dykes header drift just wide in stoppage time.
McGovern failed to reappear after the break, with Wales U19 international Daniel Barden coming on for his league debut, having played in City's opening game of the season at Luton in the Carabao Cup.
Norwich started the second period brightly, carving out two good chances.
Dieng was forced into a good block to deny Pukki after the Finn had been put in by a sublime Todd Cantwell pass and a minute later Grant Hanley sent a powerful header just over the bar.
Dieng then blocked another Buendia shot from close range as the incessant pressure continued before the visitors had a real let off after 53 minutes.
Pukki broke the offside trap midway inside the QPR half and raced clean through but rather than taking a shot he chose to square to Cantwell who had moved ahead of his colleague and the flag went up.
Another top-quality save from Dieng, one-handed low to left to deny Pukki at the near post, again kept the rampant Canaries at bay, with the Londoners still somehow on level terms as the game passed the hour mark.
Defender Rob Dickie then took centre stage, clearing a goalbound strike from Jacob Sorensen off the line with his 'keeper beaten before Norwich finally got the goal they had been threatening after 75 minutes.
Cantwell was the architect, bursting into the box from the left and drawing a rash challenge out of Dominic Ball which sent the young midfielder sprawling.
The contact looked minimal but referee Langford pointed straight to the spot and Pukki duly sent Dieng the wrong way.
At the other end, rookie 'keeper Barden had been a mere spectator although he was called upon 13 minutes from time, doing well to grab a close-range header from Dickie on the line when Rangers won a rare corner.
The visitors were now looking more of a threat and got back on level terms from another penalty after 84 minutes.
The referee pointed to the spot when Osayi-Samuel went down in the area after a shove from Zimmermann and the same player picked himself up to beat Barden from 12 yards.
Osayi-Samuel should have won it for the Hoops in stoppage time but somehow lifted the ball over from point-blank range after being set up by substitute Albert Adomah.
Norwich's Daniel Farke: "Overall the feeling is one of disappointment because this was a game we deserved to win. We scored a fantastic team goal. I have seen it again and it was not offside. Teemu is there with the back-pass and Todd Cantwell is a yard behind the ball. Everyone can have their own opinion about the decision-making but I will keep my opinion to myself because I don't want a record ban.
"After four or five appeals we finally got a penalty which Teemu puts away but then they get a penalty which I thought was going to be a goal-kick. To be fair we didn't help ourselves by making a risky pass which was intercepted and then not making a tackle when we hard a chance."
QPR's Mark Warburton: "I thought the lads put in a terrific effort over the full 90 minutes and fully deserved to come away with a point. Yes, it could have been all three but I am not going to criticise Bright. He did well to get in the right position to get on the end of the cross and nine times out of 10 he would put it in, probably more than that. But these things happen and we will take the draw and move on.
"We were up against a side with a lot of good players and stuck to our game plan, defending well and creating one or two chances ourselves. I was disappointed with their penalty because they had been shouting for them all game, making a lot of noise in an empty stadium, and finally the referee has fallen for it. It seems the louder you shout the more you get with the fans not here and that is disappointing."
