- Todd Cantwell pounced on a loose ball in the box give the hosts an early lead
- Norwich continued to press Wolves but couldn't find an illusive second goal
- Romain Saiss equalised for Wolves on the hour mark with a back post header
- Raul Jimenez scored late on after plenty of pressure to ensure three vital points
By now you would have thought Norwich would have learned from the many lessons they have been given this season.
The margins in the Premier League are paper-thin and when you are in front and have chances to kill the game it’s best to take them.
Through Todd Cantwell they led in the first half only for Wolves to come back in the second and punish them with Romain Saiss and Raul Jimenez displaying a cutting edge that ultimately is the difference between sides such as these.
Teemu Pukki, who was purring at the start of the campaign, now appears timid and two glaring misses when Norwich were on top only served to prove that point.
It is a worry for Daniel Farke, whose side are now six points adrift of safety.
‘We should have been four of five ahead,’ Farke said. ‘Today is one of those days where football feels like the most unfair sport [but] we missed an unbelievable amount of chances.’
It has been one problem after another the Canaries.
Christoph Zimmermann had managed to play around a month alongside Ben Godfrey after missing nearly two months with a knee injury. That partnership was unsettled again when Godfrey was ruled out until February after tearing his ACL against Leicester last week.
Grant Hanley wasn’t fully mobile with a groin strain but filled in alongside Zimmermann. Not exactly the quickest of pairings up against an attack that was spearheaded by the sharp Jimenez, skilful Diogo Jota and rapid Adama Traore.
But as it happened, Norwich’s trio of Cantwell, Emi Buendia and Kenny McLean aren’t so bad either.
It was Buendia who was providing inspiration in the opening stages. His creativity set up McLean and Pukki in quick succession but neither were worked Rui Patricio enough to mean anything.
Their encouraging start was closer to yielding reward when Alex Tettey tried shot from range only for the impressive Patricio to dive to right and tip the effort onto the post.
It was all quite concerning for a Wolves side who by now expect to be brushing aside relegation-threatened outfits such as Norwich.
But then they tend to struggle against teams in the lower reaches of the table – they had won just two of their last 17 away games against teams in the relegation zone, losing 11 before this.
They were staring at a 12th defeat when Norwich went ahead.
MATCH FACTS AND PLAYER RATINGS
Norwich XI: Krul 6, Aarons 6, Zimmermann 6, Hanley 6, Byram 6, Tettey 6 (Vrancic 87'), Trybull 6 (Hernandez 87'), BuendÃa 7, McLean 7, Cantwell 7 (Srbeny 87'), Pukki 6.
Unused Subs: Fahrmann, Lewis, Amadou, Stiepermann.
Goals: Cantwell 17'.
Wolves XI: Rui PatrÃcio 7, Dendoncker 6, Coady 6, Saïss 7, Doherty 6, Rúben Neves 6.5, Moutinho 7.5, Jonny 5, Traoré 6, Raúl Jiménez 7 (Cutrone 90+4'), Diogo Jota 6 (Neto 77').
Unused Subs: Ruddy, Bennett, Vallejo, Kilman, Vinagre.
Goals: Saiss 60', Jiminez 81'.
The ball was controlled in the middle of the pitch by Pukki. He turned and passed to Cantwell who switched the play to the left flank where McLean had already started a run. Once in a more advanced position, the 27-year-old Scot dispatched a cross which nobody seemed prepared for, especially Jonny whose attempted clearance was awful and went as far as Cantwell on the edge of the box. The midfielder kept his focus and finished into an open net.
It was a big shock to the system for Wolves and it could have got much worse very quickly had Pukki not dragged his shot wide when one-on-one with Patricio.
In fact had Pukki been as confident as he was at the start of the season, Norwich would have been well clear before half-time. Two minutes before the break he went through on goal but once more his shot was poor and the Patricio saved easily.
Down the other end it was nothing more than frustration. Traore was being handled well by Sam Byram and Hanley. He wasn’t given room to operate and when he did get a clear run down the right wing his final ball wasn’t good enough to pick out Jimenez.
It’s fortunate then that Joao Moutinho can produce one of the best deliveries in the top flight. Moutinho would be Wolves’ route back into the game. After a short corner, Moutinho whipped in a ball to the far post where Saiss rose highest to head past Tim Krul into the far corner.
And just like that Norwich went from appearing in control to having no idea what to do and threw it all away.
Pedro Neto, who had just come on for Jota, played a one-two with Moutinho to find a way past Byram. From there Neto’s low cross was turned towards Krul by Matt Doherty. Krul’s reaction save kept Doherty out but the loose ball rolled back into the path of Jimenez who drove it into the net for his seventh league goal of the season. For Nuno Espirito Santo it was a fine recovery but he wouldn't entertain talk of targeting the top four as Jose Mourinho has suggested.
‘No,’ he said. ‘Never. We don’t compete for the table, we compete to perform.
‘I’m happy with the character but the first half was not good. But when you learn from your mistakes and react then that’s growth.’
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