West Bromwich Albion vs Norwich City. Sky Bet Championship.
The HawthornsAttendance25,673.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City at The Hawthorns on Saturday; Josh Maja earns a point for Baggies in topsy-turvy encounter with all four goals scored in first half.
Saturday 23 November 2024 18:56, UK
West Brom ended their four-game run without a home goal but were held to a 2-2 draw by Norwich.
First-half strikes from Mason Holgate and Josh Maja were cancelled out by Emiliano Marcondes and a Torbjorn Heggem own goal as the hosts were again made to wait for a win at The Hawthorns.
The game got off to an even start but it was the visitors who almost took an early lead when a misfired clearance from Holgate deflected into the path of Borja Sainz.
The Spaniard directed an effort goalward but, despite spilling the initial save, Alex Palmer eventually claimed the ball to end the imminent threat.
In the 11th minute, an excellent team move culminated in a defence-splitting over-the-top one-two between Callum Styles and Alex Mowatt, with the latter's resulting shot earning the Baggies a corner.
It was played short to Karlan Grant, who delivered an inch-perfect cross to the near post where Holgate finished with an audacious back-heel effort.
The Canaries drew level in the 20th minute after a quick counter-attack as Jack Stacey beat Styles for pace down the right-hand side to carve out a dangerous chance.
The former Bournemouth defender sent a cross into the six-yard box where Marcondes had lost his marker, allowing him to poke the ball across the goal-line at full stretch.
The Canaries took the lead in the 41st minute after Sainz broke into the box but, after the Spaniard beat multiple defenders, it was Baggies defender Heggem who knocked the ball into his own net.
Carlos Corberan's side responded almost immediately as, in the 43rd minute, Maja produced a sensational volley from Holgate's cross to level the score.
A minute later The Hawthorns erupted as Grant had the ball in the back of the net once more - but the referee instead awarded Norwich a free-kick for a handball in the build-up.
After the first-half goal-fest, there was a slower pace to the game at the start of the second period but it was the hosts who were enjoying the better of the chances.
Sainz was unleashed on a darting solo run but, after beating his man in the box, the 23-year-old's effort proved nothing more than catching practice for Palmer as the game approached the hour mark.
Despite chances at both ends, there was nothing to split the sides as the game ended level.
West Brom's Carlos Corberan:
"The team has taken a positive step in attack but at the same time we have suffered more chances and [conceded] goals than we want to suffer in the first half.
"I saw improvement in attack but some game situations that we didn't manage well in defence.
"For me we could have managed better the two goals and some of the chances we were giving to them.
"During the first 20 to 25 minutes [of the second half] we kept creating chances without conceding chances. In the last minutes we didn't create a lot and we conceded some more [chances]."
Norwich's Johannes Hoff Thorup:
"We should not concede as many goals as we do at the moment. That's definitely something we need to improve and something we need to work on.
"But it's always good to have that feeling as a coach that when I see the team out there today, I have the feeling we can score throughout the 90 minutes, which is so important to have.
"So I'm pleased with the amount of chances we created, I'm pleased with the goals we scored."
