Oxford dents Norwich's play-off hopes
Norwich City missed the chance to move within a point of the EFL Championship play-off places after being held to a 1-1 draw by Oxford United.
Josh Sargent's early goal was cancelled out by Mark Harris, with the Canaries unable to find a late winner despite plenty of second-half pressure.
Both teams made a lightning-quick start to the game, with Ole Romeny nicking the ball inside Norwich's box before curling a shot on goal, but Vicente Reyes, in for the injured Angus Gunn, held on to it.
Sargent then found the breakthrough just four minutes later. Kellen Fisher latched onto a brilliant throughball down the right before fizzing a dangerous low cross into the box, and the American was there to turn it past Jamie Cumming.
The hosts were caught out by a long throw-in in the 18th minute, though, as Will Vaulks's lob was not cleared properly, and Harris met the volley sweetly on the half-turn, firing in from close range.
Sargent was then denied a second goal shortly before the break. He set off too early to meet Borja Sainz's pass and the offside flag went up before the ball nestled into the near-bottom corner.
Norwich pushed for a winner in the second half, with Fisher seeing a shot blocked and Cumming brilliantly parrying Ante Crnac's powerful long-range strike over the bar.
Sainz could have scored an 89th-minute winner after beating the offside trap, but Cumming made himself big to stretch and direct the acute-angled shot wide.
Norwich did move up to 10th on 49 points, sitting three points behind West Bromwich Albion in sixth, but the draw was not the result it was looking for.
This had the feel of a must-win game for Norwich ahead of the rest of the weekend's games, but instead, it remains adrift of the top six.
In fact, it is a familiar tale for Norwich, which has now dropped 26 points from winning positions this season, the most of any team in the Championship.
Oxford, meanwhile, remains in 18th, but is now eight points clear of the relegation zone.
