Norwich claims derby to dent Ipswich promotion bid
Ipswich Town suffered a serious blow to its hopes of automatic promotion from the EFL Championship after a brilliant Marcelino Nunez free-kick earned local rival Norwich City a 1-0 victory at Carrow Road.
A tense game of few clear-cut chances was settled by Nunez's 39th-minute strike, a low, swerving shot from more than 30 yards that completely bamboozled Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
The win left a below-par Ipswich hoping for slip-ups from rivals Leicester City and Leeds United later in the day. While Leeds United obliged with a 2-1 defeat at Coventry City, the Foxes did not, beating Birmingham City 2-1 to go top of the table.
Ipswich would be relieved to still be in in the second autimatic promotion spot for the Premier League after the defeat, while for victor Norwich, it further cemented its place in the top six.
It also maintained its overwhelming supremacy in this fixture in recent years, with Ipswich having failed to clinch an East Anglian derby win since a 3-2 victory at Portman Road way back in 2009.
"If I said in the past that the atmosphere was great at home, I have not said the truth - today was special and great," Canaries boss David Wagner said after the game.
"Everybody has seen how such an atmosphere can bring a team forward. I think it was a deserved win.
"How the defenders worked hard and fought was just great. To keep a clean sheet at home again, eight wins in a row, against a league leader and the biggest rival, it makes it a fantastic afternoon."
For Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna, there might be relief that Leeds's loss kept his side in the automatic promotion hunt, but he know too well that any more slip-ups from here could mean the difference between going back to the Premier League automatically or having to face the nightmare of the play-offs, where Norwich could well be lurking again.
"I don't think our intensity from a physical point of view was at the level we wanted, that is certainly not effort," he said after the match.
"Everyone comes here with the best of intentions. It's our third tough game in a week. It was a really emotional one with Southampton on Wednesday [Thursday AEDT].
"We have physical issues in the group, but I'm not going to go into that. It was a big game, big atmosphere and there were a lot of different factors involved."
