Norwich City vs Leicester City. Sky Bet Championship.
Carrow RoadAttendance26,277.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Norwich City and Leicester at Carrow Road as a Kelechi Iheanacho penalty and Kasey McAteer sealed victory for the Foxes on Wednesday night.
Wednesday 20 September 2023 23:19, UK
Leicester moved back into the top two of the Championship with a hard-fought 2-0 win at Norwich.
The Canaries had won all three of their previous games at Carrow Road this season and proved to be spirited opponents on a miserable evening in Norfolk.
But the visitors turned in a disciplined display to take all three points, with a Kelechi Iheanacho penalty on the stroke of half-time and a late tap-in from Kasey McAteer securing a sixth win in seven games for Enzo Maresca's men.
A dull first half sprung to life in the dying minutes, with Leicester edging in front from the penalty spot.
Dangerman Stephy Mavididi set up the opener by bursting clear down the left flank and racing into the area, where his progress was halted by a shove in the back from Christian Fassnacht.
Referee Graham Scott pointed straight to the spot and Iheanacho did the rest, with Angus Gunn unable to keep out his well struck penalty despite getting a hand to it.
Moments later Mavididi was through again and this time he managed to get in a shot himself, with a curling effort drifting just wide of the far post.
Earlier both sides had struggled to create openings as they sought to build patiently from the back.
Fassnacht had a couple of shots for the Canaries, the latter drawing a comfortable save from Mads Hermansen, while defender Wout Faes went close with a pair of headers for the Foxes.
Despite losing striker Ashley Barnes to injury Norwich looked the side more likely to score early in the second period, although they again struggled to create decent openings.
The visitors seemed content to sit back and rely on the occasional counter-attack, with Gunn seeing precious little action.
Norwich continued to press and almost drew level in the 71st minute when it needed a superb reaction save from Hermansen to keep out a close-range header from Shane Duffy, who was picked out by a pinpoint cross from substitute Onel Hernandez.
They came even closer a few minutes later when Kenny McLean shipped an effort against the underside of the bar following a poor clearance from the otherwise excellent keeper.
It was all Norwich now, with Gabriel Sara brushing the side-netting with a 25-yard free-kick, although McAteer should have sealed it for the Foxes with a free header at the back post.
McAteer made up for that glaring miss by wrapping up the points for Leicester in the 87th minute.
A slick move ended with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall one on one with Gunn and instead of shooting the substitute squared for his unmarked colleague to side-foot home into an empty net.
Norwich's David Wagner:
"We are obviously disappointed to lose but I am fine with the performance - it was top class. I am unhappy we twice gave the ball away in the lead-up to the penalty but apart from that I am very pleased with the way we played.
"We were the better side in the second half and created three or four very good opportunities but unfortunately we were not clinical enough. The lads battled hard, never gave up and in the end were beaten by a quality side so we move on.
"I think Leicester will finish top this season and the rest of the teams will be battling for the other positions. It's tough to take but I have every faith in this group of players going forwards."
Striker Ashley Barnes limped off early in the second half and Wagner added: "It looks like knee ligaments and we will know more after a scan tomorrow. Hopefully it is not too serious but we have strength in depth now which is good."
Leicester's Enzo Maresca:
"I am very pleased with our performance because of the opponents we were up against.
"I have watched all their games and they usually score goals - 15 I think - so I am very pleased to come away with a win and a clean sheet.
"We had to work very hard for the points - I said to the lads afterwards that you can work on the way you play, the way you defend but you also have to have the desire out there on the pitch.
"The way the team defended was unbelievable, clearing the ball from corners and second and third phase play and that made all the difference tonight."
