Norwich City 2 Newcastle Utd 2: Mixed emotions for Canaries boss

Norwich City manager Alex Neil admitted to mixed emotions after his side's unbeaten Championship run was extended to six games.
Newcastle's Yoan Gouffran (left) fends off Norwich defender Steven WhittakerNewcastle's Yoan Gouffran (left) fends off Norwich defender Steven Whittaker
Newcastle's Yoan Gouffran (left) fends off Norwich defender Steven Whittaker

Jamaal Lascelles bagged a late levelled for visitors Newcastle in a 2-2 draw, as Norwich failed to hold on to avenge their 4-3 away defeat earlier in the season.

“To be honest, there are mixed emotions after that,” said the Scot, whose Canaries side remain seventh but are now four points adrift of the play-off place.

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“Obviously you are not expecting to concede a goal in the first minute and we were really nervy in the first five minutes.

“But once we got our goal and then got ahead, we were excellent – the response from the players was top-class.

“In the second half, we started OK and then we started to drop deeper and deeper to protect what we had and the frustrating thing from our point of view is that we didn’t see it out.

“It was a really good game, with two teams going toe to toe, not giving an inch and both trying to win it.

“A draw was a fair result.”

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Meanwhile, Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez says that he is not worried about the defensive errors committed at Carrow Road.

Benitez said: “We have not had too many games where we have made mistakes like that, so that is why you cannot be too worried about them.

“OK, it is bad, and it is something you don’t like to see, but because it is not normal.

“It is something we have to forget about quickly. We will analyse why it happened, but once we know why, we will just concentrate on the reaction and the positives to come out of the game.”

The Spaniard added: “We deserved to win. We hit the post twice, and had so many other chances. It is just a shame that we made the mistakes to let the other team score.”