Norwich City 2-1 Coventry City: Canaries continue their resurgence with comeback win

Championship leaders Coventry City suffered more misery on the road as Norwich City came from behind to record a well-deserved 2-1 win at Carrow Road.

A second goal in English football from Canadian winger Ali Ahmed completed a rousing fightback from the Canaries to leave their opponents without a win in six away matches.

Romain Esse had fired the visitors in front seven minutes before the break with a well-taken goal, but Anis Ben Slimane equalised from Norwich’s first attack of the second period and Ahmed added a second midway through the half to settle the contest.

The in-form hosts moved up to 18th as a result, having looked favourites for relegation when Phillippe Clement took over in November, while Coventry remain just three points clear at the top with Middlesbrough breathing down their necks.

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Match action

Norwich had the better of the first half, with Ben Slimane and Kellen Fisher both failing to make the most of decent openings before the hosts came desperately close to taking the lead after 27 minutes.

A corner from the right was only half-cleared and fell nicely for defender Jose Cordoba, who saw his sweetly-struck low drive come back of a post before the ball was hacked to safety.

Despite having plenty possession, the Sky Blues had not managed an effort on goal up to that point – but they made their first clear chance count in the 38th minute.

Ruairi McConville did well to block a snapshot from Victor Torp; however, Esse was in close attendance and picked up the loose ball before drilling home to give the visitors the lead against the run of play.

Coventry almost made it 2-0 three minutes later, with Vladan Kovacevic needing to be at his best to palm away a rising drive from Hadji Wright.

Second half

Norwich were on level terms within 35 seconds of the restart after making an electrifying start to the second half.

Recent signing Ali Ahmed slipped in Ben Slimane on the left and the midfielder took the ball past Carl Rushworth before sliding it home, with an attempted goal-line clearance from Jay Dasilva proving unsuccessful.

Ephron Mason-Clark saw a header come back off the crossbar as the rattled Sky Blues sought a response, but it was Norwich who scored again to turn the game on its head.

Liam Kitching set up the opportunity by careless coughing up possession in his own half, allowing half-time substitute Papa Diallo to run free before squaring the ball across for an unmarked Ahmed to gleefully side-foot home.

Coventry pressed hard for an equaliser, but failed to seriously trouble a rejuvenated home side who saw out a third straight win.

Disappointing

Afterwards, Coventry manager Frank Lampard rued “another disappointing away result”.

“No disrespect to Norwich, who are on a good run, but we gave them their two goals,” said Lampard.

“For the first one, you expect your players to be switched on at the start of the second half, and that wasn’t the case, and then we allow them to score a second.

“I thought it was a typical Championship match and we never owned it. We certainly weren’t at our best, but got our goal in the first half and then we gift them a way back into it.

“It’s disappointing, but it’s done now and we have to make sure we are ready for the next one and focus on that.

“It’s another disappointing away result and although there are different stories in all the games, overall we have not being playing well enough.

“But that’s the nature of this league and now it’s about trying to bounce back in the next one.”

Proud

Clement was delighted with the win against a club he played for in the late 1990s.

“I am very proud of the players because we were up against a very good team with a top manager who play good football and are top of the league,” the Belgian said.

“It was a huge challenge for my team, but they grasped it with both hands and did brilliantly to win the game.

“If someone had suggested this result and performance three months ago, they would probably have been laughed at. It was not a lucky win; it was well deserved.

“It was an excellent performance and we need it to continue to get this club where we want it to be. The players deserve to enjoy this, but it will be back to work tomorrow.”

READ MORE: Norwich City vs Coventry City: Chirpy Canaries are flying again