Lewis cracker lifts Norwich in their battle to beat the drop
It was so wet at Carrow Road that the police had parked a boat outside the ground before kick-off. But bottom-of-the-table Norwich City proved they have not given in to that sinking feeling just yet.
A superb second-half goal from left-back Jamal Lewis breathed new life into Norwich’s unlikely bid to stay up and extended Leicester City’s winless Premier League run to four games.
Having been 14 points clear of fifth place at one stage in December, third-placed Leicester are now looking over their shoulder in the top-four race. Chelsea can move just three points behind them, while Manchester United can close the gap to six.
Norwich looked like they had a mountain to climb at the bottom before this game, but have now moved four points behind Aston Villa in 17th place to keep their heads above water.
Last night marked 15 years since Delia Smith’s infamous “Where are you?” call to the Carrow Road supporters at half-time in a 3-2 defeat by Manchester City. Norwich went down that year, but Smith was waving a giant yellow and green flag at the final whistle to celebrate this victory with the home fans, who still believe their side can stay up.
“When you deliver under such pressure against one of the Premier League’s best sides, it is good for the confidence and belief we can get points wherever we go,” said Norwich manager Daniel Farke, who believes his team can take inspiration from Leicester’s survival five years ago.
“Even if no one had managed this before, we would still try to go for it because we always want to be special. For a club in this position with this injury curse, and that couldn’t spend hardly any money in the summer, it would be a little miracle. But we are here to create something special and there’s definitely a chance to do this.”
Leicester have now won 12 points from their past 12 games and their bad run has coincided with Jamie Vardy hitting a dry patch. The striker is yet to score in 2020 and was ruled out of the trip to Norwich with a calf problem, his third injury since the turn of the year.
Kelechi Iheanacho led the line in Vardy’s absence and saw what would have been a great goal ruled out by video assistant referee Graham Scott for handball.
Brendan Rodgers, the Leicester manager, felt Norwich defender Ben Godfrey had also handled the ball and said: “We are obviously disappointed. Both players unintentionally handball it, but worse case scenario for us it’s a free-kick for us.
“We know the rule in terms of touching hands and arms, but I think it was unintentional by their defender and I don’t know what Kelechi can do. It hits his hand.”
Leicester have not scored in their past three games and Rodgers said:
“We can’t dance around the truth and it’s one where we need to find that quality. We’ve worked ourselves into a fantastic position with 10 games to go. The responsibility is for the team to score, our midfielders and wingers. It has dried up a little bit, but we continue to work.”
The defeat marked a disappointing first return to Carrow Road to face his former club for James Madisson, who endured a frustrating evening and was fortunate not to be booked. He got away with a poor challenge on Max Aarons, and the right-back was a constant thorn in Leicester’s side, eventually setting up what proved to be the winning goal with 20 minutes remaining.
Aarons spotted Lewis in space on the other side of the penalty area and delivered a perfect cross-field ball for his team-mate. But the chance was far from easy and Lewis picked his spot brilliantly.
The goal was Norwich’s first from open play since New Year’s Day and it came four minutes after they should have taken the lead. Leicester found themselves swamped as the hosts broke quickly but Ondrej Duda shot at Kasper Schmeichel after being teed up by Emi Buendia.
There was a scare for Norwich in the 25th minute, however, as Dennis Praet hit the outside of the post from Ricardo Pereira’s cross at the end of a slick move.
Leicester thought they had taken the lead in the 49th minute, when Iheanacho curled a superb shot into the far corner of the net. But replays showed the ball had hit the forward’s hand as he had taken it down under pressure from Godfrey and the goal was disallowed following a VAR check.
That seemed to inspire Norwich, while deflating their visitors, as Duda wasted his golden chance, before Lewis netted the goal that convinced the Canaries they can still pull off their own version of the Great Escape.
Norwich City
Subs Booked Leicester City
Booked Referee