Norwich City 1 Leeds United 2 - BBC 31/10/21
Bottom club Norwich City remain without a Premier League win 10 games into the season after slumping to defeat against fellow strugglers Leeds United at Carrow Road.
After a dour first half, the match burst into life when
Raphinha dribbled past three players to fire the visitors into a 56th-minute
lead after being picked out by Dan James.
Norwich were level inside two minutes when 19-year-old
defender Andrew Omobamidele headed home from a corner needlessly conceded by
keeper Illan Meslier.
But Leeds restored their advantage on the hour through
Rodrigo's long-range effort after Norwich had lost possession outside their own
box.
It was an improved performance by the Canaries after their
humiliating 7-0 defeat at Chelsea last week, but Daniel Farke's side have now
lost eight of their 10 matches since winning the Championship with 97 points
last season.
James went closest to scoring in the first half after
rounding Tim Krul but Grant Hanley was in the right place to clear his attempt
off the line.
The hosts at least showed more desire than they did at
Stamford Bridge, but once again they lacked any real attacking threat.
Teemu Pukki and Mathias Normann both went close with
first-time attempts and Milot Rashica forced a save from a free-kick.
Norwich also felt they should have had a penalty in the
early stages when the ball struck James but referee Anthony Taylor waved away
their appeals.
Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber came out fighting
after the Chelsea debacle stating "we've not come into this league to be
tourists", while reminding the club's critics that the Canaries were the
11th highest spenders in Europe during the summer transfer window.
But with more than a quarter of the season gone, the table
makes miserable reading for Farke and his players.
Eight defeats in 10 games, just three goals scored and
conceding at a rate of 2.5 per game.
This was a must-win after their rout in London and although
there was an improvement of sorts, Norwich are eight points from safety with
fans wondering where their next point - never mind victory - is going to come
from.
Leeds have struggled themselves and arrived at Carrow Road
having won just once, with Farke targeting this match to finally get his side's
season up and running.
Instead Norwich remain on two points - five fewer than at
the same stage two seasons ago when they were relegated with three games left.
Their players looked bewildered at the final whistle as the
visitors celebrated a first away win of the campaign.
Without injured trio Patrick Bamford, Luke Ayling and Robin
Koch, Leeds have struggled to find the momentum that propelled them to a
top-nine finish last season.
They started this game in the bottom three but after
Raphinha provided some real quality in attack, they now sit four points off
10th-placed Leicester, who they host next Sunday.
