Championship
NorwichNorwich City1Bristol CityBristol City1

Norwich 1-1 Bristol City: Canaries held at home but remain set for top six

Borja Sainz and Marcelino Nunez
Bristol City held Norwich to their ninth draw of the season

Norwich remain in a strong position in the Championship play-off race despite being held to a frustrating draw by Bristol City at Carrow Road.

The home side squandered a number of first half chances before going behind to Haydon Roberts' strike after the break.

Borja Sainz levelled minutes later, but David Wagner's side were left frustrated as a run of eight straight home wins came to an end.

Norwich are now in sixth, six points clear of Hull, who still have a game in hand, while Bristol City extend their unbeaten run to six games.

Chances were exchanged inside the first 15 minutes. Sargent struck the post from distance before Mark Sykes missed the target after a quick break by Joe Williams.

Scott Twine then hit the bar for the visitors from a free kick before he forced a save from Angus Gunn, but then Norwich began to create more chances.

Moments after Sam McCallum almost scored from Gabriel Sara's corner, Shane Duffy narrowly missed the target when he met Marcelino Nunez's kick just past the half hour mark.

Ben Gibson headed a fizzed cross wide with the half time whistle looming.

Those misses were punished 10 minutes into the second half. Williams won the ball in the middle and fed Tommy Conway, whose cross was turned home by Roberts to put Bristol City in front.

But three minutes later, Sainz restored parity. Sara found Sargent, who unselfishly laid it off for the Spaniard to finish from about five yards out,

Norwich settled back into their rhythm and almost completed a turnaround when substitute Jonny Rowe forced Max O'Leary into a save with a curling effort.

Gunn was on hand again to deny both Twine and Conway at one end, while McCallum's cross found Jack Stacey at the other.

He fired wide, summing up a frustrating afternoon for the hosts, who thought they lost it late on but Harry Cornick's strike was disallowed for offside.

Norwich manager David Wagner told BBC Radio Norfolk:

"I wasn't surprised about [Bristol City's] performance.

"I was a little bit surprised about our performance because I think energy-wise we were not on highest level and this is why we didn't look as sharp as we were in recent weeks.

"Some individuals looked a little bit tired as well.

"I think we can live with this point; before the game you would say a point is not enough but after the game when you've seen our performance and you've seen other results as well, I think you can live with this point. One individual was at their best, Angus Gunn.

"The players are human, they've been fantastic in recent weeks and months."

Bristol City boss Liam Manning:

"There were a lot of positives from the game.

"In the first half especially we took the game to them and created a lot of good chances and I suppose the only disappointment was that we failed to take them.

"This is really tough place to come but we went out and played really well against a very good side.

"I guess it says something that we have come away from here with a point and are still a little bit disappointed.

"I thought the players were excellent - they showed a lot of quality on the ball and the work-rate and commitment was there too.

"We are on a good run now, I think that's six unbeaten and we want to maintain these levels in the next two games to finish the season in the best way possible."

Line-ups

Norwich

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 28Gunn
  • 3Stacey
  • 24Duffy
  • 6Gibson
  • 15McCallum
  • 26NúñezSubstituted forRoweat 56'minutes
  • 23McLeanBooked at 90mins
  • 17Gomes SaraBooked at 90mins
  • 10BarnesSubstituted forSørensenat 85'minutes
  • 7SainzSubstituted forFassnachtat 81'minutes
  • 9Sargent

Substitutes

  • 12Long
  • 14van Hooijdonk
  • 16Fassnacht
  • 19Sørensen
  • 21Batth
  • 27Rowe
  • 35Fisher
  • 43Welch
  • 49Serrao Montoia

Bristol City

Formation 3-4-2-1

  • 1O'Leary
  • 19Tanner
  • 16Dickie
  • 24Roberts
  • 2McCrorieSubstituted forGardner-Hickmanat 85'minutes
  • 12Knight
  • 8WilliamsBooked at 90mins
  • 3Pring
  • 17SykesSubstituted forMehmetiat 67'minutesBooked at 90mins
  • 7TwineSubstituted forCornickat 81'minutes
  • 15ConwaySubstituted forWellsat 81'minutes

Substitutes

  • 6James
  • 9Cornick
  • 10King
  • 11Mehmeti
  • 21Wells
  • 22Gardner-Hickman
  • 23Bajic
  • 47Mebude
Referee:
Samuel Barrott
Attendance:
26,295

Match Stats

Home TeamNorwichAway TeamBristol City
Possession
Home49%
Away51%
Shots
Home10
Away13
Shots on Target
Home3
Away5
Corners
Home8
Away5
Fouls
Home13
Away9

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Norwich City 1, Bristol City 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Norwich City 1, Bristol City 1.

  3. Booking

    Kenny McLean (Norwich City) is shown the yellow card.

  4. Booking

    Anis Mehmeti (Bristol City) is shown the yellow card.

  5. Post update

    Anis Mehmeti (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  6. Post update

    Foul by Gabriel Sara (Norwich City).

  7. Post update

    Corner, Norwich City. Conceded by Cameron Pring.

  8. Booking

    Joe Williams (Bristol City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  9. Post update

    Foul by Joe Williams (Bristol City).

  10. Post update

    Angus Gunn (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  11. Post update

    Attempt saved. Nahki Wells (Bristol City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Rob Dickie.

  12. Post update

    Corner, Bristol City. Conceded by Angus Gunn.

  13. Post update

    Offside, Bristol City. Harry Cornick is caught offside.

  14. Post update

    Nahki Wells (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  15. Post update

    Foul by Kenny McLean (Norwich City).

  16. Post update

    Taylor Gardner-Hickman (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  17. Post update

    Foul by Kenny McLean (Norwich City).

  18. Substitution

    Substitution, Norwich City. Jacob Sørensen replaces Ashley Barnes.

  19. Substitution

    Substitution, Bristol City. Taylor Gardner-Hickman replaces Ross McCrorie.

  20. Post update

    Joe Williams (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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As It Stood

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2Ipswich432611685533289
3Leeds43269876344287
4Southampton43259985562984
5West Brom4420121267442372
6Norwich442191477611672
7Hull431812136254866
8Coventry4217121366521463
9Middlesbrough43189166156563
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11Cardiff44195205061-1162
12Bristol City441611175147459
13Sunderland44168205251156
14Swansea441511185762-556
15Watford441217155958153
16Millwall441411194355-1253
17Stoke441311204460-1650
18QPR441311204157-1650
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20Plymouth441212205869-1148
21Birmingham441210224864-1646
22Huddersfield44917184774-2744
23Sheff Wed43128233667-3144
24Rotherham44412283285-5324
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