Jack Harris scored the only goal of the game to help Norwich produce one of the close football scores of the midweek action in the Championship. The opportunity to overtake the table’s leaders, Sheffield United, who fell to QPR 1-0 at home, was lost by the visitors. Tim Krul, the goalkeeper for Norwich, made a fantastic save on an Andy Carroll header during the evenly matched first half to prevent Reading from taking the lead. While Krul was having difficulty, home midfielder Jeff Hendrick also narrowly missed an upright with a long-range shot.
Grant Hanley, the captain of Norwich, scored from a corner in the 50th minute to give them the lead, but Hendrick gave Reading the equalizer 10 minutes later. In their previous eight league games, Norwich had won seven and drawn one, including three straight road victories, the most recent of which was a 1-0 victory at Blackpool on Saturday. The Norfolk team had scored in 12 straight league and cup games, while Reading, who have won six of their last eight games, are still in the third position, one spot below Norwich, after defeating struggling Huddersfield 3-1 on Saturday.
Early on, Norwich controlled the action, attempting to slowly build from the back with a succession of accurate, if a little laborious, passes. The visitors were unable to establish any regular rhythm as a result of Reading’s aggressive pressing strategies, which frequently left key striker Teemu Pukki alone. Reading started to forward with more energy as Norwich’s initial aim waned and had a chance to score in the 19th minute. Junior Hoilett, a winger who will represent Canada at the World Cup, delivered a deep cross from the right for Carroll to head home. To parry the ball to safety, Krul made a fantastic save. And from a Danel Sinani corner, defender Andrew Omobamidele had a chance to score the game’s winning goal but headed wide.
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