Neil’s Bark bites Canaries...
NORWICH’S winless run was extended to six games after this draw against Preston, despite having 106 minutes to claim victory.
A moment of class from James Maddison put Norwich ahead in the first half, but Tom Barkhuizen levelled for the visitors with 20 minutes remaining.
The tempo of the closing stages was transformed when linesman Mark Jones came off injured, causing ten minutes of added time as local referee David Thornhill was found from the Carrow Road crowd to be the fourth official.
This meant an extra 16 minutes were played, and the events at the end of the game frustrated Norwich manager Daniel Farke, who felt his side’s momentum was disrupted by the delay.
He said: “I got the feeling in the last 20 minutes that we didn’t play a lot of football.
“I was a little bit annoyed because after 1-1 I wanted to put pressure on them and win the game, but we didn’t come into our rhythm.
“The opponent is always able to regroup because there’s a break and you have to wait ten minutes to take your free-kick, and then there’s another twominute break, but it is what it is. I think in general the performance was better than the last home game and that’s exactly what we wanted.”
Norwich should have been in front after Josh Murphy beat the offside trap and rounded Chris Maxwell, but the winger delayed his shot, allowing Darnell Fisher enough time to get back and block.
There was no clear sign of quality between the sides until Maddison’s 34th-minute freekick. The midfielder might have been expected to cross from the left side of the box, but instead he guided a right-footed shot high over Maxwell and into the far corner.
The Lilywhites fought back with a string of unsuccessful efforts. Browne saw an overhead kick bounce off the bar, and Barkhuizen headed inches wide of the post before Browne had a close-range shot blocked by a crowd of Norwich players moments before half-time.
Maddison’s quality was on show again after the break as he played the ball through Paul Huntingdon’s legs to Wes Hoolahan, with a last-ditch effort from Ben Davies just enough to prevent a goal.
Preston then squandered a golden chance with Callum Woods’ lack of composure from five-yards out seeing him head into the hands of Angus Gunn.
Poor defending from Norwich finally allowed the visitors to draw level, with Barkhuizen staying alert to touch Huntingdon’s near post header, from Gallagher’s corner, past Gunn in the 70th minute.
This was Alex Neil’s first match back at Carrow Road since parting company with Norwich in March, and the Preston manager was pleased with his team’s performance.
“Over the 90 minutes I was delighted with my team. I thought we were the better side,” he said. “We hit the bar and had two or three good counter-attacking moves we should have done better with.
“For our lads it tells you their mindset that they’re disappointed after the game, they thought they were the better side and should have won the match. I thought the game up until the end was good but I thought the last ten minutes became a bit of a farce because we were worried about the players getting injured.”