Late drama as East Anglian derby ends in a draw

Posted Sunday, February 18, 2018 by PA

A dramatic stoppage-time header from defender Timm Klose earned Norwich a well-deserved 1-1 draw in a hard-fought East Anglian derby against Ipswich at Carrow Road.

The visitors had looked set to claim their first win against their local rivals in nine years when skipper Luke Chambers headed home from a corner with just two minutes of normal time left.

But the Canaries refused to be beaten and deep into five minutes of time added on, Klose headed home a Grant Hanley cross to ensure a share of the spoils.

Ipswich had the better of an instantly forgettable first half, with Angus Gunn by far the busier of the two goalkeepers.

After putting his own side under pressure with a poor clearance, the England Under-21 international did well to push a Martyn Waghorn shot away for a corner.

That was moments after Jonas Knudsen had popped up at the back post to head just wide, with Town testing Gunn again from long range just after the half-hour mark through a well-struck low free-kick from Callum Connolly.

Waghorn also had the home keeper at full stretch just before half-time with another free-kick, while the visitors had a couple of optimistic penalty appeals involving Waghorn and Dominic Iorfa waved away by referee Peter Coote.

Norwich had plenty of the ball but rarely threatened, with a couple of long-range efforts from Nelson Oliveira that were well off-target the best they could muster.

The Canaries started the second period at a much faster tempo and a couple of minutes in Bartosz Bialkowski was called into action for the first time to tip a dangerous James Maddison free-kick over the crossbar.

The hosts should really have scored from the resultant corner but an unmarked and onside Klose could not get the ball out of his feet when played in by Harrison Reed’s header.

It was now Norwich in the ascendancy and Bialkowski was called into action again from another Maddison free-kick, producing an identical save to keep out the effort the midfielder had won himself with a thrilling dash towards the penalty area.

The big Pole then made an even better stop in the 73rd minute to keep the scores level.

Oliveira’s low shot following a delightful flick from Moritz Leitner was creeping in before a vital touch diverted the ball wide.

But the game was turned on its head, completely against the run of play, in the 88th minute when Ipswich won a rare corner.

Waghorn’s delivery from the right was spot on and skipper Chambers timed his run perfectly to power home a header from the edge of the six-yard box.

But there was still time for even more drama. A hopeful punt forward was chased down by Hanley and when Bialkowski did not get there the Scottish defender was able to swing over a cross that an unmarked Klose powered home with his head.