Championship
BarnsleyBarnsley2NorwichNorwich City1

Barnsley 2-1 Norwich City

Conor Hourihane
Conor Hourihane's goal was his fourth of the season for Barnsley

Barnsley secured a first home league win since 27 August by inflicting Norwich's sixth defeat in seven games.

Tom Bradshaw put them ahead with a clever finish from Josh Scowen's cross and skipper Conor Hourihane fired home a superb second before the break.

Norwich were more assertive after the interval and Nelson Oliveira reduced the deficit with a low 25-yard shot.

The Canaries continued to press but Graham Dorrans and Jacob Murphy missed the target as Barnsley held out.

Norwich boss Alex Neil, who played more than 100 games for Barnsley during his playing career, made one change to the side that thrashed Brentford 5-0 last week, with Josh Murphy joining his twin brother in the starting line-up.

They were second best for most of the first half, though, as Bradshaw and Hourihane both scored their first goals since the home side's 4-0 win at Wolves in mid-September.

Neil, twice on the losing side for the Reds against Norwich in 2001-02, made a double change at the break as Josh Murphy and Alex Pritchard were replaced by Youssouf Mulumbu and Martin Olsson.

Oliveira's sixth of the season put them on the front foot, but their best effort in the closing stages was a shot from distance by full-back Ivo Pinto, which was saved by Adam Davies, as they slipped to eighth in the table, with Barnsley moving up to 11th.

Barnsley head coach Paul Heckingbottom: "It was a case of two teams playing two different shapes and I thought we imposed our shape on them better in the first half.

"They made changes at half-time and they imposed their shape and system on us at the start of the second half.

"It changes the mentality and we had to get to grips with the middle of the park again. They were much stronger with their midfield three so we had to change and regain control of the middle of the pitch.

"I don't think there's ever been a dip in confidence or belief. You need to not get down if things aren't going your way and don't get carried away if they are going your way."

Norwich boss Alex Neil: "We basically got bullied in the first half. Physically, we didn't compete.

"They're good at what they do and if you don't match it you're going to have a tough time. "To be fair to them, they thoroughly deserved the win based on their first-half performance.

"It wasn't down to tactics - we just didn't compete well enough, which is hard to accept. In the second half it was roles reversed and I thought we were totally dominant.

"You've got to be flexible in this league, take any test that comes your way and be good enough to overcome it."

Line-ups

Barnsley

Formation 4-4-2

  • 1Davies
  • 2Bree
  • 4Roberts
  • 5MacDonald
  • 17Yiadom
  • 6Scowen
  • 29Morsy
  • 8Hourihane
  • 40KentSubstituted forJankoat 90+5'minutes
  • 9WinnallSubstituted forHammillat 71'minutes
  • 20BradshawSubstituted forPayneat 72'minutes

Substitutes

  • 7Hammill
  • 13Townsend
  • 16Evans
  • 19Kpekawa
  • 21Janko
  • 23Payne
  • 28Williams

Norwich

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Ruddy
  • 25Pinto
  • 24Bennett
  • 6Bassong
  • 12BradySubstituted forLaffertyat 85'minutes
  • 8Howson
  • 4Dorrans
  • 22Murphy
  • 21PritchardSubstituted forOlssonat 45'minutes
  • 31MurphySubstituted forMulumbuat 45'minutes
  • 9Oliveira

Substitutes

  • 3Olsson
  • 5Martin
  • 13Jones
  • 14Hoolahan
  • 15Klose
  • 18Mulumbu
  • 19Lafferty
Referee:
Andy Woolmer
Attendance:
12,306

Match Stats

Home TeamBarnsleyAway TeamNorwich
Possession
Home39%
Away61%
Shots
Home8
Away18
Shots on Target
Home3
Away7
Corners
Home3
Away7
Fouls
Home12
Away8

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Barnsley 2, Norwich City 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Barnsley 2, Norwich City 1.

  3. Substitution

    Substitution, Barnsley. Saidy Janko replaces Ryan Kent.

  4. Post update

    Corner, Norwich City. Conceded by Conor Hourihane.

  5. Post update

    Corner, Norwich City. Conceded by Conor Hourihane.

  6. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Youssouf Mulumbu (Norwich City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.

  7. Post update

    Corner, Norwich City. Conceded by James Bree.

  8. Post update

    Hand ball by Youssouf Mulumbu (Norwich City).

  9. Substitution

    Substitution, Norwich City. Kyle Lafferty replaces Robbie Brady.

  10. Post update

    Foul by Graham Dorrans (Norwich City).

  11. Post update

    Josh Scowen (Barnsley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  12. Post update

    Jacob Murphy (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  13. Post update

    Foul by Sam Morsy (Barnsley).

  14. Post update

    Youssouf Mulumbu (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  15. Post update

    Foul by Josh Scowen (Barnsley).

  16. Post update

    Attempt saved. Ivo Pinto (Norwich City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Martin Olsson.

  17. Post update

    Nélson Oliveira (Norwich City) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  18. Post update

    Foul by Marc Roberts (Barnsley).

  19. Post update

    Graham Dorrans (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  20. Post update

    Foul by Conor Hourihane (Barnsley).

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Newcastle20141541162543
2Brighton20126230111942
3Reading2011452725237
4Huddersfield2010372325-233
5Leeds2010282322132
6Sheff Wed209472323031
7Birmingham208752426-231
8Norwich209383532330
9Fulham207853425929
10Derby198561713429
11Barnsley208483430428
12Preston208482725228
13Aston Villa2061042220228
14Bristol City208392724327
15Nottm Forest197483433125
16Brentford207492627-125
17Ipswich206771820-225
18QPR206592029-923
19Wolves205782528-322
20Burton205782227-522
21Blackburn2055102331-820
22Cardiff2055101931-1220
23Wigan2046101622-618
24Rotherham2024142045-2510
View full Championship table

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