Derby light it up with late show
DERBY staged an astonishing comeback to beat high-flying Norwich at Carrow Road in another candidate for game of the season.
Trailing 3-2 with 10 minutes to go, with a floodlight failure then delaying the game for 25 minutes, Derby hit back in superb style.
Florian Jozefzoon equalised a couple of minutes after the resumption and Jack Marriott hit a dramatic winner on the 90-minute mark.
Derby manager Frank Lampard admitted he had never seen a game like it, saying: ‘It was a game that had everything and I don’t think I have been involved with one like that before.’
‘I have certainly never gone back to the dressing room and then come back like that and, as a manager, I have never been involved in a game with a two late goals like that.
‘The delay worked in our favour because Norwich had just scored their goal and the momentum was with them.
‘It was bad timing for them and good timing for us because it gave us the chance to reorganise things and talk about bringing on a substitute. I thought David Nugent did a superb job when he came on, playing a part in both our goals.
‘ Norwich will be saying they deserved something from the game, and they would have a point to be fair, but we deserved this for the way we came out after the delay.
‘ We showed great character to come back the way we did and the players deserve so much credit for coming away from a tough place like this with three points.’
Norwich had been in complete control after goals from Ben Godfrey and Teemu Pukki had put them 2-0 up inside 31 minutes, but Derby were back on level terms by halftime, with Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount on target. Norwich kept their composure and Pukki added his second after 80 minutes to make it 3-2 before more late drama, following Norwich’s 3-3 draw with Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day.
When play resumed after the lights flickered back into life, Derby equalised al most i mmediately through Jozefzoon and then grabbed a winner in the 90th minute as Marriott muscled his way through before beating Tim Krul.
There was still time for Norwich substitute Jordan Rhodes to hit the underside of the crossbar after Scott Carson had made a brilliant save to deny Todd Cantwell — but the visitors held on to take all three points.
City boss Daniel Farke felt the 25minute delay was a pivotal moment in the game, with Pukki having just fired the Canaries into the lead.
‘I don’t want to use the floodlight problem as an excuse, but if it hadn’t been for that I am sure we would have gone on and won the game,’ he said. ‘We had just scored, we had the momentum with us, and the delay gave Derby a chance to take a break and make changes.
‘Having said that, I was very disappointed with our defending when we came back on the pitch – and we also let them back in the game with poor defending just before half-time when we were in complete control.’