Norwich City 2-3 Preston North End: Canaries squander chance to go top

Norwich City 2-3 Preston North End: Canaries squander chance to go top of the table – as Troy Parrott’s late winner ends Dean Smith’s side nine-game unbeaten run in the Championship

  • Norwich City have missed out on the chance to move top of the Championship 
  • The Canaries took the lead at home before conceding two Emil Riis goals
  • A 76th minute Gabriel Sara equaliser gave the home crowd hope for a winner
  • However, Troy Parrott’s late goal sealed three points for the travelling Preston 

A kind assessment might describe this as a ‘missed opportunity’ for Norwich City.

A more robust evaluation might say they ‘bottled it’ as Dean Smith’s side failed to move top of the Championship table after losing to a team that had forgotten how to score.

Preston North End now have seven goals this season, three of those coming here at Carrow Road. 

Dean Smith’s side ‘bottled it’ as they squandered the opportunity to move to top of the table

Preston striker Troy Parrott (out of shot) scored the winner with 10 minutes left on Saturday

Emil Riis Jakobsen’s double and a winner by Tottenham Hotspur loanee Troy Parrott was enough to frustrate the team pushing for an automatic return to the Premier League. 

With Sheffield United stumbling elsewhere, Norwich could have flown into first position with a win or even a draw. They remain second and in the promotion places, though know they made a mess of matters here.

Preston came into this with one of football’s most bizarre records. Manager Ryan Lowe could boast they had the Championship’s best defence, having conceded only four goals all season. And yet, they also had the worst attack, having scored only four times themselves.

It is a curious quirk – one which makes it difficult to decide if Preston are good at what they do or bad. Lowe’s team had not conceded away from home this season, but that changed with one minute and 45 seconds at Carrow Road.

Norwich striker Josh Sargent collected the ball and drove at the Preston defence. Liam Lindsay’s attempt at a block was half-hearted and Sargent’s shot flew through his legs and into the bottom corner for 1-0 and his seventh Championship goal of the season.

Norwich could have made it 2-0 and cemented the win but didn’t take their chances. The chief culprit was Teemu Pukki, who wastefully chipped wide when he had only Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman to beat from inside of the box.

Josh Sargent opened the scoring for Norwich as he struck hard and low into the bottom corner

Teemu Pukki wasted the chance that could have put Norwich 2-0 up and secured three points

That proved costly. A minute later at the other end, Robbie Brady’s cross found Riis, who positioned himself between Max Aarons and Andrew Omobamidele to head home the equaliser.

So much for ‘boring’ Preston. They may have been plagued by a spate of 0-0s this season, but not this time. 

At 1-1, the visitors wanted a red card for Sam Byram for his nasty challenge on Alan Browne. Television replays showed they were right to be angry – Byram’s studs sunk into Browne’s leg – but referee Dean Whitestone bottled the big decision by showing only a yellow.

In the 52nd minute, Preston’s Alvaro Fernandez won possession ahead of Aarons. He charged at Norwich’s defence and squared the ball to Riis. With a first-time finish, he beat Tim Krul for 2-1.

Three goals in a game? Dizzy numbers for Preston, these, but we weren’t done there. In the 76th minute, Pukki danced his way into the box, crossed and found Gabriel Sara, who made it 2-2.

Emil Riis timed his jump to perfection to head home Robbie Brady’s cross for the equaliser 

Players crowd round Riis, centre, after he scored his second of the game to make it 2-1 Preston

Norwich’s Gabriel Sara (above) wheels off in celebration after making it 2-2 in the 76th minute 

In the 80th minute, another twist. Parrott was fed and fired a shot which was deflected off Liam Gibbs. That saw the ball sneak beyond Krul at his near post.

Parrott injured himself in the process of celebrating, grabbing his hamstring before hobbling off.

Amid seven minutes of stoppage time, Kenny McLean’s left-footed shot sailed into the bottom corner. Norwich celebrated, thinking it was 3-3. It wasn’t. 

Referee Whitestone had spotted an off-the-ball foul by Grant Hanley on Liam Lindsay in the build-up and disallowed the leveller, with boos ringing round at full time at Carrow Road.




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