On a wet and windy day in Birmingham, the spoils were shared with both sides unable to take all three points.
The lead alternated between both sides, with Mason Holgate opening the scoring in superb fashion for West Bromwich Albion, before a well-worked counter-attack earned Norwich City midfielder Emiliano Marcondes his first goal in yellow and green.
An unlucky deflection off Torbjorn Heggem gave the Canaries the lead via the league's top goalscorer Borja Sainz, before Josh Maja instantly restored parity for Albion. The hosts almost scored two goals in two minutes, but saw their last effort disallowed for handball.
Pre-match thoughts
Surprisingly, American striker Daryl Dike was omitted from the matchday squad despite recovering from an Achilles injury sustained back in February, with Josh Maja keeping the starting position as striker. John Swift and Jed Wallace remained on the bench for Carlos Corberan’s side.
Johannes Hoff Thorup named Angus Gunn back in between the sticks after a lengthy spell on the sidelines from a rib injury sustained in the October international break, while Gunn was on duty with Scotland. Onel Hernandez made his long-awaited return to the matchday squad as a substitute, with youngster Brad Hills joining him.
Story of the match
West Brom began the game the stronger side, keeping the ball in Norwich’s defensive third for the majority of the opening five minutes, with a long-range strike from Tom Fellows blocked at the edge of the box by Emiliano Marcondes in the fifth minute.
Borja Sainz saw his effort parried by Albion goalkeeper Alex Palmer in the eighth minute, with Palmer able to recover the spilled ball before an eager Ante Crnac could arrive to finish it off. Albion would switch up the attacking play, with Norwich’s defence struggling to clear the ball.
Albion would take the lead through Mason Holgate in the 11th minute, with a short-corner to Mikey Johnston played into the near-post for Holgate to finish with a touch of finesse, directing a backheel past Gunn and in at the near post.
It would not take long for Norwich to restore parity, when against the flow of play, Jack Stacey wins the ball high up the pitch, with a cross to the near post for Emiliano Marcondes serving up a simple finish, with the ball rifled into the net at close range, seeing Marcondes score his first goal for the Canaries, and his first since April 2024, when the Danish midfielder played for Scottish side Hibernian.
Albion continued to pile on the pressure, with Mikey Johnston striking a volley over the crossbar in the 30th minute, with Norwich seeming to lack control on the counter-attack. A quick break from Albion forced Gunn out of the penalty box to clear the ball into the stands, with the Albion aerial threat challenging the Canaries.
Sainz, Forson and Marcondes linked up perfectly in the 41st minute to give Norwich the lead against the odds, with an unfortunate deflection off Albion defender Torbjorn Heggem.
Josh Maja would cancel out the Norwich goal two minutes later, with an acrobatic finish in the 43rd minute, and if not for a handball, Maja would have a brace and have restored the Albion lead in the 44th minute, after Alex Mowatt caught the Norwich defence unaware.
Second half
Albion came out of the gates with strong determination of finding an early goal to restore their lead, with Grant coming close in the 47th minute at the near post, forcing Duffy to clear, and the resulting corner forcing Gunn into a save. The game turned feisty in the 51st minute, with Anis Ben Slimane shown the yellow card for bringing down Jayson Molumby on the counter-attack.
West Brom kept the pressure alive until the 59th minute, where Sainz broke away on a blistering counter, with a gentle touch onto his left foot, before firing a shot towards goal, which proved to be no challenge for Palmer. A quick counter attack gave Tom Fellows the chance to restore the lead in the 60th minute, with his shot over the crossbar.
Kellen Fisher also saw the yellow card after bringing down Karlan Grant in the 66th minute, with a reckless challenge on Karlan Grant. Albion continued to utilise the home advantage by moving the ball carefully and methodically, with no real shot challenging Scotland international Angus Gunn.
Onel Hernandez, who replaced Ante Crnac in the 72nd minute, almost won the game for Norwich in the 83rd minute after breaking through a tricky West Brom offside trap, leaving him one-on-one with Alex Palmer. He takes his time before firing a shot which was blocked by Callum Styles.
Both sides continued to have muted chances up until the final whistle, with the points shared on a wet, windy evening in Birmingham.
Coming up
West Bromwich Albion will make the journey up north to the ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear, taking on top of the Championship table Sunderland for a Tuesday night game under the lights, with kick-off at 8pm on Tuesday, November 26.
Norwich City have two back-to-back home games, first welcoming Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle, who rescued a point against a strong Watford side on Friday, November 22. The game is also scheduled for Tuesday, November 26, with a 7:45pm kick-off.
Total Attendance: 25,673 (2,512 Away supporters)
Lineups:
West Bromwich Albion – Palmer; Furlong, Holgate, Heggem, Styles; Mowatt (Wallace 70’), Molumby; Fellows (Racic 70’), Grant (Swift 90’), Johnston (Dobbin 70’); Maja (Cole 82’).
Unused subs: Wildsmith, Frabotta, Whitwell; Diakite.
Norwich City – Gunn; Fisher, Stacey, Duffy, Doyle; Ben Slimane (Gordon 90’), Sorensen (Schwartau 81’), Forson (Hernandez 64’); Marcondes, Crnac (Gibbs 64’), Sainz.
Unused subs: Long, Chrisene, Hills, Hanley; Fassnacht.
