Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Norwich City and Blackburn Rovers at Carrow Road on Saturday | Yuki Ohashi scores a late equaliser for Rovers after Canaries had come from a goal down.
Saturday 17 August 2024 18:43, UK
Summer signing Yuki Ohashi came off the bench to grab a dramatic late equaliser as Blackburn snatched a battling 2-2 draw at Norwich.
The Japanese striker headed home in the 87th minute to rescue a point after his side had squandered a half-time lead, with Josh Sargent and Borja Sainz scoring twice in eight second-half minutes to turn the game on its head.
Ryan Hedges had produced an assured finish to open the scoring on 20 minutes but Norwich were the better side for long periods and made it show after the break, only for Rovers to have the final say.
John Eustace's side have four points from the opening two games while Norwich, under new boss Johannes Hoff Thorup, have just one.
The Canaries made a bright start and Sargent twice went close to giving his side an early lead.
First he shot wastefully wide after a poor pass out from goalkeeper Aynsley Pears had put Sondre Tronstad under pressure and moments later he headed a corner against the underside of the crossbar, with the Rovers' defence somehow scrambling the loose ball clear.
The visitors weathered the storm however and made their first clear opening of the game count on 20 minutes. Big striker Makhtar Gueye did well to bring the ball forward and slip it out to the overlapping Hedges and the wide man kept a cool head to clip it over the advancing Angus Gunn.
An audacious 35-yard effort on his full debut from Gabriel Forsyth almost drew Norwich level, with Pears having to produce an acrobatic fingertip save to keep it out.
It then took a brilliant last-ditch tackle from Tronstad to thwart Sargent after the keeper's poor distribution had once again got his side into trouble.
Both sides struggled to create chances in the early stages of the second period, with a 35-yard free-kick from Marcelino Nunez that drifted just wide providing a brief moment of excitement.
But Norwich were enjoying the bulk of possession and levelled in the 65th minute as Sargent opened his account for the new campaign. Callum Brittain was robbed by Tommy Doyle on the right and the Manchester City loanee played a perfectly-timed pass for Sargent to rifle the ball into the roof of the net.
Eight minutes later, the hosts added a beautifully-worked second.
A one-two between Nunez and Sargent saw the latter get to the byline and the striker turned provider by drilling in a low cross that was tapped home from close range by Sainz.
Blackburn were stunned but quickly regrouped and made it 2-2 three minutes from the end of normal time.
A well-worked attack enabled Brittain to deliver an excellent cross from the right flank and Ohashi got ahead of his marker to nod past Gunn.
Norwich's Johannes Thorup:
"I am obviously disappointed with the result - I think in the second half we were very good, exactly how I want us to play, and I think we did enough to have come away with the three points.
"But it was very frustrating to concede an equaliser like that. We have the ball, then we lose it - we should be better at avoiding giving them chances like that.
"But overall it has been an okay week for us. In the two games (Norwich beat Stevenage 4-3 in the Carabao Cup) we have shown that we are improving and developing as a team and we want that to continue moving forward.
"I would also like to thank the fans today, they stayed behind us even when we went down and were also great at the end, despite the late goal. It was a great example of a team and the crowd working together."
Blackburn's John Eustace:
"With the way we played, especially in the first half, I am a little bit disappointed we didn't win the game. I thought we were excellent both with and without the ball. We scored a terrific goal and the chances they had came when we lost possession.
"We were very confident going into the second half and it was a shock for us when they scored those two goals. But to their credit, the lads showed terrific character to get the equaliser and ensure we came away with something for our efforts.
"I want Blackburn Rovers to be difficult to play against but also pleasing on the eye and I can think you can see we are moving in the right direction.
"It's now an important time coming up for us - we are light in certain areas and we need to bring in three or four players to strengthen the squad to make sure we can continue to compete like we have done so far."
