Norwich City trumped Ipswich Town 1-0 in the Old Farm derby, setting back Ipswich’s ambitions for automatic Championship promotion. The tight match saw a solitary score on the 39th-minute from Marcelino Nunez’s free kick that covered a 30-yard distance. This left Ipswich, who were not at their best on the day, hoping for rivals Leicester and Leeds to falter later. Meanwhile, the victory reaffirms Norwich’s position among the top six and extends their longstanding dominance in this particular encounter, as Ipswich hasn’t come out victorious in an East Anglian derby since securing a 3-2 win in Portman Road back in 2009.
Following a close surge in the beginning, Norwich took the lead with a series of deep-zone free kicks against Ipswich. This was mastered by Nunez taking the home team to the front, six minutes before half time, following Sam Morsy’s grounding of Josh Sargent about 30 yards from the goal centre. It seemed improbable that a goal would occur from such a distance, but the Chilean managed to outmanoeuvre Town’s pair with a low curling shot, glanced past Vaclav Hladky’s desperate attempt to save and bounced off the post.
Previously, Sargent fell following a more perilous encounter with Axel Tuanzebe after Ashley Barnes’s exceptional pass, only for Gabriel Sara’s free-kick not producing any result. Overall, the Canaries showed more might during the tight first half, with Ipswich falling short in their performance. Their single off-target try was Massimo Luongo’s futile corner header.
Right at the start of the follow-up half, Sam McCallum’s long-distance hit caught the adversarial side off-guard; Borja Sainz’s only narrowly missed the target. Thereafter, Sargent went down courtesy of Morsy’s last-minute effort in the penalty area, only for the referee, Matthew Donohue, to dismiss the home crowd’s appeal by continuing the game.
In the conclusive stage of the match, Sargent made another powerful run, positioning the ball back towards Sainz, who unfortunately sent his initial try off target and over the top.
Ipswich grappled with gaining momentum within the last section of the pitch. However, Conor Chaplin eventually came through with a commendable play 70 minutes in, launching the ball slightly above the goal following Leif Davis’s assist.
Ali Al-Hamadi, freshly on the field, was stopped in his tracks by Angus Gunn’s swift intervention during a chase for a far-off pass. Nonetheless, Norwich’s strong defense ensured they sealed a much-earned victory in the derby.