Maddison has calm head on shoulders
JAMES MADDISON kept his nerve with a coolly taken second-half penalty to earn Norwich a draw against promotion-chasing Derby.
The midfielder converted the second spot-kick of the afternoon after Scott Carson had saved Nelson Oliveira’s first-half penalty following the keeper’s foul on Maddison.
The home side had gone ahead through Matej Vydra’s 17th league goal of the season.
But the Canaries fought back and were good value for a draw that could see Derby overtaken in second place by Aston Villa today.
Derby had not conceded a goal in their previous four league games but they came close to going behind in the ninth minute.
Curtis Davies was muscled off the ball by Oliveira, who took it into the area and shot low from 15 yards but Carson turned it behind for a corner.
Vydra showed how to finish three minutes later when Norwich were punished for giving the ball away cheaply near the left touchline.
Ikechi Anya ran forward before slipping the ball inside to Vydra, who span away from a defender before firing into the bottom corner.
But Norwich had a great chance to draw level when Maddison got through on the right and was caught by Carson after he clipped the ball towards goal.
After consulting with a linesman, Jeremy Simpson awarded a penalty after booking the goalkeeper – but Oliveira’s kick lacked power and accuracy, allowing Carson to save to his right.
Norwich had another strong claim for a penalty rejected just before half-time and Oliveira shot narrowly wide from the edge of the box at the start of the second half.
The visitors won another penalty in the 72nd minute when Oliveira was caught by Tom Huddlestone – and this time Maddison sent Carson the wrong way.
Norwich boss Daniel Farke wanted all three points. He said: “The result is a scandal – we totally dominated the last 75 minutes.”
Derby boss Gary Rowett said: “I thought it was the poorest we’ve been for a long time.”