Norwich 1-0 Leicester: Jamal Lewis stunner gives hosts relegation hope

Report and free match highlights as Leicester go four games without a win in the Premier League

Charlotte Marsh

Senior football journalist

Saturday 29 February 2020 08:03, UK

A stunning Jamal Lewis goal saw Norwich beat Leicester 1-0 in the Premier League on Friday Night Football and boost their survival hopes.

Both sides went into the game having not won in the league since the middle of January and Leicester thought they taken the lead when Kelechi Iheanacho (49) powered home just after the break, but VAR ruled it out for handball.

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But it was an equally as marvellous strike from Lewis that did win it as he swept the ball into the far corner for his first Premier League goal. It has put Norwich to within four points of safety with just their second league win since November and their fifth overall this season.

For Leicester, they have now gone four Premier League games without a win, but remain in third, nine points clear of Manchester United in fifth place.

How Norwich boosted their survival chances

It was a rather slow start at Carrow Road, but both sides had half chances. Hamza Choudhury headed over the crossbar from a Leicester corner before Ben Godfrey nodded a Ondrej Duda cross straight into the hands of Kasper Schmeichel. Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul then collected a thunderous hit from Dennis Praet.

The Belgian midfielder almost got the better of Krul in the 25th minute, but could only find the post. Ricardo Pereira swept the ball into his path but his effort could only rattle the bottom of the crossbar. Not long after, the goalkeeper was in action again to push away a James Maddison cross ahead of the incoming Iheanacho.

Krul was called into action again in the 37th minute but it was another rather easy save, getting down low to collect an Ayoze Perez shot after the Spaniard's fine solo run to the top of the area.

The best chance of the half came two minutes later as Iheanacho blazed over the crossbar from inside the six-yard box, but it would likely have been chalked off by VAR for handball as Perez's slotted pass appeared to hit him on the arm.

Leicester were dominant in the opening minutes of the second half and thought they had taken the lead in the 49th minute as Iheanacho thundered the ball past Krul with a fierce volley. However, VAR quickly intervened and the goal was soon disallowed for handball, with a forward pass from Praet grazing Iheanacho's hand in the build-up.

Schmeichel had been a bystander until the hour mark, but made two sensational saves in quick succession. His first was an acrobatic one-handed save to see a curling Duda effort over the bar before he denied the midfielder once again, saving a lower effort.

But he was beaten in the 70th minute by a sumptuous Lewis goal. The impressive Max Aarons picked up a long pass down the right with Ben Chilwell standing off him enough for Aarons to spot the position of Lewis over on the left of the area. He had plenty of space to collect Aarons' pass before sweeping a powerful shot into the far corner for his first Premier League goal.

Leicester saw plenty of the ball as the game went on but could not create any clear-cut chances as Norwich saw the game out for their fifth Premier League win of the season.

Man of the match - Emiliano Buendia

Much had been made of Buendia's absence over the last few games, but his performance at Carrow Road more than justified his inclusion from the start.

His attacking threat sometimes had Leicester tying themselves up in knots and he made four open play crosses - the most in the Norwich team - two of which were good. He also lead the way for touches and even made the most tackles (5) as he put in the work at either end.

Sky Sports co-commentator Andy Hinchcliffe said: "He's been such a danger going forward. Daniel Farke needed a really strong defensive effort and Buendia did really well in the second half, especially against Chilwell. We know what a force the Leicester left-back can be, but Buendia stayed shoulder to shoulder with him and worked so hard down the right-hand side."

What the managers said

Norwich manager Daniel Farke: "They [the players] deserve a lot [of credit] because we are playing in of the best leagues in the world against one of the best teams. At the beginning of the season, Leicester were fighting for the title, but they have all the chances to finish as runners up and this is a top-class side, top-class coach and top-class players.

"To be here in a home game with a clean sheet against them is without doubt an amazing result and a top performance from my lads. I'm pretty proud today.

"It has been a tough spell for Lewis with a long-term injury and he had to wait to be back in the starting line-up… He has come back into the team and his first Premier League goal is well deserved. I'm delighted for him and Max [Aarons] in that situation had a great assist and both full-backs today were on a really good level.

"A win is always good for the mood, good for the confidence, good for the table but for me, it was important that we showed a reaction after the last game because we're not on the top of our game. In general, in our last six games, we have three clean sheets and some really good results so I'm pleased with our direction at the moment and we have to keep going. I can be proud today and happy with this result but after one day, we will concentrate on the next task because they're always huge for us."

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers: "It's disappointing to lose It and I thought we did well to lose it, to be honest. We played OK, we had 19 shots at goal, but I just felt in the final third of the pitch, we lacked that little bit of quality this evening and it's something that has just come out of our game for a few weeks now. We had enough of the ball, enough attempts at goal, but we just needed to find that final pass or that greater bit of quality when we get into the final third.

"We're disappointed with the [disallowed] goal as well. I'm not sure what the ruling is now but we felt it was very harsh. It was unintentional by their player but it hits his arm and then drops on to Kelechi's hand. He still has a lot to do to get away and score so we're disappointed that we didn't get that. Away from home, that changes the game for you once you get the goal.

"If you can't go on to win the game, it's important that you don't lose it and we didn't track our runners towards the end. The boy [Lewis] finishes it so well, it's a fantastic strike through bodies and into the corner, but you shouldn't lose a game like that.

"We'll go away, we'll analyse it and look to be better and we're still in a great position with ten games to go, but we have to up that level of quality and get back to where we were for large parts of the season."

Opta stats

Leicester have lost six of their last 11 Premier League games (W3 D2 L6), one more than they lost in their first 27 matches under Brendan Rodgers (W17 D5 L5).
Leicester suffered a Premier League defeat against a team starting the day bottom for the first time since December 2016, when they lost 2-1 against Sunderland.
Norwich defender Jamal Lewis - aged 22 years and 34 days - became the youngest Northern Irish player to score in the Premier League since Craig Cathcart in January 2011 for Blackpool against Man Utd (21y 353d).

What's next?

Norwich are in FA Cup action next week as they travel to Tottenham in the fifth round on Wednesday March 4 before playing Sheffield United on Saturday in the Premier League.

Leicester are also involved in FA Cup action on Wednesday, hosting Birmingham, before welcoming another Midlands-based side in Aston Villa on Monday 9 March in the Premier League, live on Sky Sports.