Ipswich Town’s wait for a derby win goes on.
It looked as if the Blues had ended a winless run which dates back nearly nine years, to April 2009, when captain Luke Chambers thundered in a bullet of a header with two minutes remaining to send Ipswich into dreamland.
But there was to be a sting in the tail as, four minutes into added time, defender Timm Klose got on the end of a cross to head the ball into the bottom corner and send Carrow Road wild.
McCarthy matched up Norwich from the start, deploying a central defensive three and a solid midfield trio, and it worked as they won the physical battle early on and hit their hosts on the break and had the better of the chances.
They did a good job of keeping dangerman James Maddison quiet in the opening 45 minutes, but he gained more freedom in the second as they pushed for a winning goal against a side they have had a hold over for nearly a decade.
McCarthy appeared happy with the point, though, as the introduction of Luke Hyam and Jordan Spence late on left Bersant Celina and Mustapha Carayol sitting on the bench throughout, as the Blues boss shut up shop before the late drama.
MORE: McCarthy denies telling Town fans to ‘f*** off’ during East Anglian derby draw
The Blues boss admitted pre-match that the loser of today’s game could almost certainly forget about the play-offs. In reality, both sides have too much to do to force their way into the top six.
The atmosphere built to fever pitch ahead of kick-off, after which it was the Blues who made the early running as Martyn Waghorn and Joe Garner worked the ball between them and eventually forced a corner.
The Blues couldn’t force an effort on goal but continued to dominate the play, won the early physical battles and played on the front foot before their first real chance arrived.
It fell to Jonas Knudsen, twice a derby hero last season, but this time the Dane couldn’t direct his header on target as he met Stephen Gleeson’s ball into the box.
Ipswich continued to make a nuisance of themselves and, after Garner picked Alex Tettey’s pocket on the edge of the Norwich area, Waghorn tried to curl a low shot into the corner which Angus Gunn just about fumbled round the post.
From there Norwich began to settle, with the midfield duo of Moritz Leitner and James Maddison beginning to see more and more time on the ball, but it was the Blues who forced the next big moment as Garner won the ball from Zimmermann in midfield and played Waghorn through. The former Rangers striker held off the challenge of Grant Hanley before falling in the box and seeing his penalty appeals waved away.
Skuse had his early firmly on Maddison, looking for the City dangerman whenever the hosts were in possession, with the England Under 21 international limited to one first-half free-kick which flew wide of Bialkowski’s post.
Josh Murphy fired wide before the break as the hosts fashioned, but they were presented with two great chances in the early minutes of the second period.
First, after Maddison was tripped by Carter-Vickers, the midfielder stepped up and forced a superb save from Bialkowski from his free-kick before Timm Klose missed his kick just eight yards out after the ball was worked back into the box from the following corner.
Maddison began to turn the screw and, after he was chopped down by Skuse in midfield, bounced up and won another free-kick which forced another good save from Bialkowski.
The Pole was called upon again, this time to save from Oliveira after the striker drifted inside, made space and shot low towards goal.
McCarthy’s introduction of Hyam and Spence appeared to have shown the Town’s boss’s willingness to head home with a point, before Chambers’ header threatened to earn all three, but it wasn’t to be as defender Klose had the final say.
Norwich City: Gunn; Reed (Vrancic 90+2), Hanley, Zimmermann, Klose, Lewis; Leitner, Tettey (Hernandez 90+2); Maddison, Oliveira, Murphy (Srbeny 84)
Subs: McGovern, Pinto, Watkins, Stiepermann
Ipswich Town: Bialkowski; Iorfa (Spence 79), Chambers, Webster, Carter-Vickers, Knudsen; Gleeson (Hyam 67), Skuse, Connolly; Waghorn, Garner (McGoldrick 61)
Subs: Crowe, Carayol, Celina, Ward
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