Ipswich Town 1-1 Norwich City - Match Report Sunday, 21st Aug 2016 14:09 Jonas Knudsen netted a first-half injury time equaliser as the East Anglian derby between Town and Norwich City at Portman Road ended 1-1. After Jonathan Douglas had had an early goal wrongly ruled out for offside, Cameron Jerome gave the Canaries the lead against the run of play on 26 but Knudsen equalised. In the second half, Steven Whittaker came closest to winning it when he hit the post. Kevin Bru replaced Teddy Bishop, who dropped to the bench, in an otherwise unchanged Town side again lining up 4-3-3. Striker Brett Pitman returned to the bench having missed the last three games with a thigh injury. Norwich made one change, Youssouf Mulumbu taking over from Josh Murphy in midfield. Town had the ball in the net in only the second minute but it was ruled out due to a wrongly raised linesman’s flag. Bru’s freekick was headed into the air by Christophe Berra and Daryl Murphy nodded down to to Douglas who turned home from close range and briefly thought he’d put the Blues in front until the assistant’s flag was spotted. Replays indicated the Irish midfielder was onside and that Town had had a perfectly good goal ruled out for the second successive game. Despite the disappointment, the home side kept up the early momentum and in the fourth minute Daryl Murphy shot wide with his right foot after Jonas Knudsen had returned the ball to the edge of the box. Town continued to press and following a corner, Berra headed skipper Luke Chambers’s cross wide at the far post with an unmarked Douglas frustrated that the ball hadn’t reached him beyond the Scotland international. Adam Webster crowded out Cameron Jerome as the visitors made their first foray into the penalty area in 10th minute. But the Blues were still on top and a minute later Murphy out-muscled Timm Klose and burst into the area before running into traffic and hitting the turf. Referee David Coote ignored penalty appeals from the crowd. A minute later, Berra blocked a Wes Hoolahan shot on the edge of the box. Murphy wasn’t too far away from from an opener in the 18th minute when he flicked Chambers’s cross from the right over Canaries keeper Michael McGovern and onto the roof of the net. On 23, the Irish international, who was giving the visitors’ backline significant problems, turned another header through to McGovern from another Chambers cross from the right. Despite the Blues domination of the first quarter of the game, the Canaries went in front with their first shot of the game in the 26th minute. Daniel Ivo Pinto rode a Freddie Sears tackle on the right and cut the ball across and following work from Hoolahan and Steven Naismith skipper Jonathan Howson laid it back to Cameron Jerome and he struck a low shot which caught the inside of Bartosz Bialkowski’s right post before hitting the net. The goal settled the visitors down and they began to keep hold of the ball with greater composure. Town’s threat was limited to corners which the Canaries were able to deal with. Naismith curled a shot over in the 37th minute, then soon after at the other end Sears’s cross just wouldn’t fall for Knudsen and Klose cleared. As the game moved into injury time, the Blues got back on terms. The ball was played into Murphy’s feet on the right of the area and the striker turned it on to Sears, who fed Knudsen behind him. The Danish international cut in and hit a low right-foot shot into the corner of the net beyond McGovern to send Portman Road wild. The Blues thoroughly deserved to go in level - at least - at the break after dominating the first 25 minutes and having been hugely unlucky to see another good goal chalked off, and in such a significant game. Once in front via Jerome’s well-worked goal, the Canaries had been on top but Town had still looked a threat when in their half with Klose in particular not having been able to get to grips with Murphy. The Irishman played a big role in the equaliser, as did Sears, who might have looked to find space to shoot himself rather than feeding Knudsen, who took his second Town goal with great confidence. Norwich switched Pinto for Whittaker ahead of the start of the second half, which the Blues started on the front foot, winning an early corner which came to nothing. Ward won another flag-kick on 53 and Berra powered a header against a defender. Claims it struck a hand from the crowd were ignored by referee Coote. The Canaries immediately broke through Hoolahan and eventually Webster nodded a scuffed Whittaker shot, which had bounced up and over Bialkowski, off the line. As the game moved to the hour mark Murphy was sent away beyond Klose, who he out-paced. The Swiss international slid in outside the area and caught the Town striker, who went down hurt as a result, but referee Coote rather surprisingly waved away Blues protests. Had he awarded the decision in the Blues’ favour then Klose’s difficult afternoon would have ended with a red card. Alexander Tettey picked up the game’s first booking in the 64th minute after fouling Douglas but the caution looked more for his subsequent dissent. Bru hit the freekick into the wall. Bishop replaced Bru in the 70th minute, then a minute later Norwich sub Jacob Murphy was sent away down the right but Knudsen blocked his cross. A Sears shot almost fell to Bishop inside the Norwich box, then on 75 the Canaries came within a whisker of going back in front. Jerome crossed from the right and Webster’s clearance only reached Whittaker, who hit a low shot which struck Bialkowski’s right post before being cleared by Skuse. While that was the closest either side had come to a second-half goal, more of the game had been played in and around the visitors’ penalty area than Town’s. A minute later, another Sears shot was deflected away from goal. Two minutes from time sub Bishop twice had the chance to win it. Following a corner, the ball fell for the 20-year-old but his shot struck a defender. Then seconds later, he caught a defender dallying with the ball and won it but McGovern was off his line to block. Moments afterwards Luke Varney took over from Sears. As the match moved into three minutes of injury time Hoolahan hit a low shot which gave Bialkowski no trouble. Deep in injury time Norwich’s Murphy broke into the area and hit the game’s last shot across the face of goal and wide. The Town players were warmly applauded off by their fans after a derby which they had shaded, even if they were unable to claim a victory. As has happened on a number of occasions in recent derbies - and also against Wolves earlier in the week - the Blues were the victims of poor refereeing with Douglas’s goal disallowed in the first half and what looked to be a foul on Murphy unpunished in the second. The Blues were on top for the majority of the second half, however, the better of the chances fell to the visitors with Whittaker’s effort against the post the nearest either side came to a winner. Despite not having won the game, most fans are likely to have gone home happy with their side’s performance against their greatest rivals with another home game next Saturday against Preston. Ipswich Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Webster, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Douglas, Bru (Bishop 70), Ward, Sears (Varney 89), Murphy. Unused: Gerken, T Smith, Kenlock, Dozzell, Pitman. Norwich City: McGovern, Pinto (Whittaker 46), Bennett, Klose, Brady, Tettey, Mulumbu (Jacob Murphy 61), Howson (c), Naismith (Canos 80), Hoolahan, Jerome. Unused: Jones, Martin, Bassong, Lafferty. Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire). Att: 23,350 (Norwich: 1,992).
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