Elland Road was the stage back in 2019 when Norwich City felt promotion to the Premier League was inevitable. It may also be the place that pushed their relegation to the Championship closer after a 2-1 defeat to Leeds United.
The defeat, secured by a late strike from substitute Joe Gelhardt, came minutes after Kenny McLean looked to have rescued a point for the Canaries late on with a goal in stoppage time.
In a frenzied game of controversial decisions, gilt-edged chances and manic phases of play, Norwich were unable to emerge from the game with any points to show for it. They remain rooted to the foot of the Premier League with nine games to go.
Their performance for extended periods was underpar and Leeds will probably feel they should have won the game by a greater margin.
Norwich are on fewer points than was the case at the same point when the coronavirus pandemic shut down football for three months back in 2019/20.
Norwich now have a break of three weeks before they travel to Brighton and Hove Albion in early April. Plenty of questions will be posed by then.
Leeds United
(4-2-3-1)
SUBS:
13 Klaesson (GK)
5 Koch (on for Rodrigo, 60)
22 Harrison (on for Bamford, 45)
26 Bate
30 Gelhardt (on for Klich, 90+2)
35 Cresswell
38 Summerville
42 Greenwood
46 Shackleton
Head coach: Jesse Marsch
- Bookings: Ayling (foul on Rashica, 27), Harrison (foul on Aarons, 71), James (off the ball incident, 77)
Norwich City
(4-3-3)
SUBS:
28 Gunn (GK)
8 Gilmour (on for Aarons, 88)
10 Dowell
11 Placheta
16 Normann (on for Rupp, 45)
19 Sorensen
30 Giannoulis
40 Tomkinson
46 Rowe (on for Sargent, 62)
Head coach: Dean Smith
- Bookings: Aarons (off the ball incident, 77)
- Added on time: 2 mins/6 mins
- Attendance: 36, 321 (approx 1,800 away)
- Venue: Elland Road
- Referee: Stuart Attwell
- VAR: Mike Dean
KEY MOMENTS
7 - Rashica goes down under pressure from James but City's appeals for a penalty are waved away by referee Stuart Attwell. Replays suggest the Welsh winger did stand on the Kosovan's foot but there was no VAR check
14 - GOAL LEEDS (RODRIGO) - Despite a jittery start from the hosts, they take the lead through their £30m signing. A long ball aimed for Bamford, who is offside, is defended by Kabak. James takes it on before Rodrigo applies a low shot into the net. 1-0
29 - Leeds go close to adding a second after countering from a City corner. Bamford's cross from the left is met by Raphinha, who connects nicely but watches his shot cannon away off the underside of the bar
30 - From the resulting corner, Struijk meets the cross but Krul is equal to his effort. When the ball falls to the defender on the rebound with the goal gaping, he failed to keep the ball down
41 - Gibson concedes possession on halfway and Leeds have an overload. The ball is eventually worked to the edge of the box and Bamford blazes the shot over
45 - McLean is bodychecked but Attwell elects against giving City a free-kick. Raphinha rolls Bamford through on goal. He is onside, but fails to hit the target
HALF TIME – LEEDS UNITED 1-0 NORWICH CITY
52 - Leeds have the ball in the back of the net through James after Raphinha's shot is saved by Krul. Replays show the winger was in an offside position
56 - Harrison's clever pass picks out Dallas in space. His cross is turned over the bar by Williams. Leeds are applying plenty of pressure in the first quarter of the second half
62 - Kabak makes a mess of a routine clearance and James gallops onto the loose ball. He curls an effort goalward and Krul is forced to produce a smart save
64 - Rowe tries his luck after turning away from two Leeds defenders on the edge of the area. His low effort is collected routinely by Meslier
72 - Norwich go close after Normann's run falls kindly for Rowe. He strikes the ball nicely but it smashes against the bar
75 - Norwich are awarded a penalty after good work from Pukki. He finds Rashica in the box who is brought down by Ayling
78 - After a lengthy VAR intervention, Attwell is sent to the monitor and overturns his original decision. The penalty is chalked off.
84 - Rodrigo's free-kick is struck beautifully and hits the bar before going over.
90+1 - GOAL NORWICH (MCLEAN) - In the dying embers of the fixture, Norwich thought they had rescued a point. Pukki shows plenty of endeavour to reach the byline and cross for McLean to stab into the net
90+4 - GOAL LEEDS (GELHARDT) - Heartbreak for Norwich. Leeds nick it at the death. Raphinha gets to the ball ahead of Williams before rounding Krul and squaring it for the substitute to net the winner.
FULL TIME – LEEDS UNITED 2-1 NORWICH CITY
SNAP RATINGS:
Krul 5; Aarons 4, Gibson 4, Kabak 4, Williams 4; Rupp 4, Lees-Melou 4; Sargent 3, McLean 4, Rashica 4; Pukki 5. SUBS: Normann 4, Rowe 5, Gilmour N/A
MATCH STATS:
(Leeds United - Norwich City)
Possession: 53% - 47%
Shots: 13 - 12
Shots on Target: 7 - 4
XG: 2.91 - 1.63
Corners: 6 - 2
Fouls: 18 - 8
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here