Match ends, Norwich City 0, Brighton and Hove Albion 0.
Norwich earned their second point of the season, but failed to take advantage of a host of chances to punish a below-par Brighton at Carrow Road.
Still searching for their first Premier League win of the season, the Canaries could not find a knockout punch despite their energy and industry ruffling the visitors.
Striker Josh Sargent squandered Norwich's best two chances and as the openings ebbed away so did his confidence.
Brighton move up the table to fourth, climbing above Manchester United - who lost to Leicester - and Everton, who play West Ham on Sunday. But they were well short of the form that has carried them into the upper reaches of the table before the international break.
Norwich stumble in front of goal
Having picked up the first point of their Premier League campaign a fortnight ago at Burnley, Norwich started well, stretching Brighton's defence and forcing Robert Sanchez into an early save from Sargent's deflected shot.
Brighton picked up momentum and asserted themselves on the hosts. Neal Maupay, with four goals in his past seven games, was a constant nuisance to the Norwich defence, appealing in vain for a penalty after going down under the challenge of goalkeeper Tim Krul.
If Krul was judged not to get enough of a touch on Maupay, he certainly did of Leandro Trossard's volley shortly after, brilliantly tipping the goal-bound shot on to the bar.
Brighton created Norwich's best chance of the half as Sanchez rushed out of goal, missed his kick and presented Sargent with an open goal. However the American's attempt from 20 yards and an angle lacked power, allowing Shane Duffy to cover round and hoof clear.
Sargent's sloppy touch allowed another prime chance to go to waste after the break, as his lack of conviction and accuracy gave Dan Burn room to slide in and block his way to goal.
Sargent was withdrawn on 75 minutes by manager Daniel Farke as Norwich came into the ascendancy in the second half and his replacement Milot Rashica sprung Teemu Pukki with an exquisite touch.
However the Finn, who had clipped a previous chance wide, could not out-run the covering Burn, who made another excellent tackle.
Maupay came close to wrecking Norwich's afternoon entirely as he turned Solly March's cross over the top in the final five minutes.
Brighton will have to improve with both Manchester City and Liverpool to play before the end of the month but the return of energetic wideman Tariq Lamptey off the bench to make his first Premier League appearance in 10 months following a series of hamstring injuries was one positive to take back to the south coast.
While a second successive point after six straight defeats is a sign of improvement for Norwich, their performance did little to foster faith they can survive in the top flight.
They have scored just twice in the league this season with both strikes coming from Pukki. With Todd Cantwell sidelined and Emi Buendia having left for Aston Villa, he looks woefully short of quality company to share the goal-scoring burden.
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Player of the match
DuffyShane Duffy
Norwich City
Avg
- Squad number35Player nameIdahAverage rating
6.41
- Squad number1Player nameKrulAverage rating
6.34
- Squad number22Player namePukkiAverage rating
6.34
- Squad number5Player nameHanleyAverage rating
6.33
- Squad number2Player nameAaronsAverage rating
6.27
- Squad number16Player nameNormannAverage rating
6.26
- Squad number20Player nameLees-MelouAverage rating
6.20
- Squad number17Player nameRashicaAverage rating
6.16
- Squad number15Player nameKabakAverage rating
6.14
- Squad number7Player nameRuppAverage rating
6.12
- Squad number23Player nameMcLeanAverage rating
6.08
- Squad number30Player nameGiannoulisAverage rating
6.05
- Squad number4Player nameGibsonAverage rating
6.04
- Squad number24Player nameSargentAverage rating
5.76
Brighton & Hove Albion
Avg
- Squad number24Player nameDuffyAverage rating
7.12
- Squad number1Player nameSánchezAverage rating
6.93
- Squad number5Player nameDunkAverage rating
6.91
- Squad number11Player nameTrossardAverage rating
6.69
- Squad number3Player nameCucurellaAverage rating
6.68
- Squad number14Player nameLallanaAverage rating
6.64
- Squad number33Player nameBurnAverage rating
6.61
- Squad number15Player nameModerAverage rating
6.59
- Squad number34Player nameVeltmanAverage rating
6.51
- Squad number9Player nameMaupayAverage rating
6.46
- Squad number2Player nameLampteyAverage rating
6.38
- Squad number13Player nameGroßAverage rating
6.34
- Squad number20Player nameMarchAverage rating
6.29
- Squad number10Player nameMac AllisterAverage rating
5.78
Line-ups
Norwich
Formation 5-3-2
- 1Krul
- 2Aarons
- 15KabakBooked at 30mins
- 5Hanley
- 4Gibson
- 30GiannoulisBooked at 50mins
- 20Lees-Melou
- 16NormannSubstituted forRuppat 83'minutes
- 23McLean
- 24SargentSubstituted forRashicaat 76'minutes
- 22PukkiBooked at 75minsSubstituted forIdahat 90'minutes
Substitutes
- 7Rupp
- 8Gilmour
- 10Dowell
- 17Rashica
- 18Tzolis
- 21Williams
- 28Gunn
- 35Idah
- 44Omobamidele
Brighton
Formation 3-5-2
- 1Sánchez
- 24DuffyBooked at 90mins
- 5Dunk
- 33BurnBooked at 90mins
- 34VeltmanBooked at 15minsSubstituted forLampteyat 59'minutes
- 13Groß
- 14LallanaBooked at 24mins
- 15ModerSubstituted forMac Allisterat 84'minutes
- 3CucurellaBooked at 41minsSubstituted forMarchat 66'minutes
- 11Trossard
- 9Maupay
Substitutes
- 2Lamptey
- 7Connolly
- 8Bissouma
- 10Mac Allister
- 12Mwepu
- 20March
- 23Steele
- 27Locadia
- 28Roberts
- Referee:
- Peter Bankes
- Attendance:
- 26,777
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home35%
- Away65%
- Shots
- Home15
- Away11
- Shots on Target
- Home3
- Away3
- Corners
- Home8
- Away4
- Fouls
- Home5
- Away14
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Norwich City 0, Brighton and Hove Albion 0.
Booking
Dan Burn (Brighton and Hove Albion) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Dan Burn (Brighton and Hove Albion).
Post update
Milot Rashica (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Attempt missed. Grant Hanley (Norwich City) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Milot Rashica with a cross following a corner.
Booking
Shane Duffy (Brighton and Hove Albion) is shown the yellow card.
Post update
Corner, Norwich City. Conceded by Dan Burn.
Substitution
Substitution, Norwich City. Adam Idah replaces Teemu Pukki.
Post update
Attempt missed. Neal Maupay (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from very close range is too high. Assisted by Solly March.
Post update
Foul by Tariq Lamptey (Brighton and Hove Albion).
Post update
Dimitris Giannoulis (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, Brighton and Hove Albion. Alexis Mac Allister replaces Jakub Moder.
Substitution
Substitution, Norwich City. Lukas Rupp replaces Mathias Normann because of an injury.
Post update
Corner, Norwich City. Conceded by Dan Burn.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Teemu Pukki (Norwich City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Milot Rashica.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Pascal Groß (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Adam Lallana.
Post update
Attempt saved. Ben Gibson (Norwich City) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Dimitris Giannoulis.
Post update
Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by Ben Gibson.
Post update
Foul by Jakub Moder (Brighton and Hove Albion).
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Comments
Join the conversation
Thanks again 😒
We had enough chances today for 3 points and didn't put them away. That is the Prem.
Brighton are a BIG team, so as soon as we got the ball on the deck and found some cutting passes, we looked pretty handy.
BHA didnt look like a Top 6 side today, but defended ok and battled to an away point.
If Norwich can start scoring, they can win...
...if
Norwich are in the Premier League and rightfully so as the best team in the Championship in their promotion season
Leeds in an effort to compete were losing a million pound a week when O’Leary was manager
holding brighton would have been par for the course la couple of seasons ago but now the gulls are flying high norwich should be happy to hold at a point each