U21 report | Norwich 3-4 Wolves

12th January 2024

Norwich 3 (Aboh pen 30, Warner 50, Lima 71) Wolves 4 (Farmer 18, 80, Roberts 39, Holman 67)

Wolves under-21s were on the right side of a seven-goal thriller to claim all three Premier League 2 points at Norwich City on Friday evening.

In their first encounter of 2024, James Collins’ side led and were pegged back on three separate occasions before Owen Farmer’s second of the night 10 minutes from time won it for the Old Gold.

Wolves were made to work for the victory against their East Anglian counterparts who thought they’d claimed a point with 10 men following Charlie Wilson’s sending off for two yellow cards on 57 minutes.

Tyler Roberts and debutant Fletcher Holman were also on the scoresheet for the visitors, who went level on points with Norwich as a result of the win.

In an evenly-contested opening 10 minutes, it was the home side who were first to threaten when Ken Aboh was released down the right-hand side and managed to get around Oliver Tipton. The forward looked to close in and strike on goal but Jimmy Storer was out in the nick of time to close down the angle and get his body in the way.

And on 17 minutes, Wolves were awarded a free-kick right on the edge of the area after Roberts was brought down. Leo Lopes struck his effort into the wall but the ball deflected fortunately into the path of Farmer whose touch set him up perfectly to volley home.

Owen Farmer scores our first #PL2 goal of 2024 ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/GFWoEoKkwg
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) January 12, 2024

Wolves threatened a few minutes later when Roberts stood up his man on the left-hand side of the penalty area before striking a powerful attempt at goal, but Vicente Reyes was right behind it.

The Canaries were afforded a way back into the game on the half-hour mark when Kam Kandola brought down Fin Welch who was attempting to recover following a heavy touch. Aboh duly stepped up and converted from 12 yards with a clinical spot-kick into Storer’s bottom right corner, giving the goalkeeper little chance.

However, after a double save from Storer at one end, the Old Gold regained the lead at the other. Harry Birtwistle’s cross from the left was attacked well by Lopes whose nod down found Roberts on the stretch to head past Reyes from close range.

Tyler Roberts on target 🎯 pic.twitter.com/vSOnp02x9d
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) January 12, 2024

Half-time | Norwich 1-2 Wolves

Norwich made a bright start to the second 45 and were almost level when Pedro Lima headed off the post. However, they were soon back on terms a couple of minutes later when Jaden Warner rose highest to meet a teasing in-swinging corner, as his header just squeezed in inside the far post.

The hosts were then reduced to 10 men when Wilson was shown a second yellow card just shy of the hour mark.

And Wolves made their man advantage count when substitute Holman scored within minutes of coming on for his debut. Harvey Griffiths picked out the new man inside the area and the striker showed his goal-scoring instinct to expertly flick the ball towards the far corner and into the net.

Fletcher Holman scores with a fine finish on his debut 👏#PL2 pic.twitter.com/pEzPOniItU
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) January 12, 2024

Unfortunately for the visitors, Norwich levelled for a third time just four minutes later. Lima’s sensational strike from 30 yards arrowed into the top corner, giving Storer no chance as the hosts made it 3-3 despite being a man light.

However, Wolves weren’t done there and with 10 minutes remaining on the clock, they took the lead for the fourth time on the evening. A corner kick was defended by Norwich but headed only to Farmer on the edge of the box who took a touch on his chest, before firing through bodies and into the bottom corner for the winner.