Norwich City 0-0 Manchester City

Man City keeper Joe Hart looked beaten before the crossbar kept out Bamford's shot

Manchester City's title hopes suffered a setback as they drew at struggling Norwich to move nine points behind leaders Leicester with nine games left.

Canaries keeper John Ruddy kept out two Sergio Aguero efforts as the home side resolutely kept the visitors at bay.

However, it was Norwich who came closest to a goal when a 25-yard Patrick Bamford shot hit the crossbar.

The home side might even have snatched a late winner but Graham Dorrans put a shot wide when well placed.

Relive Norwich's goalless draw with Man City

Concerns for Manchester City

Manchester City have now won only two of their past 11 away games in the league, and Manuel Pellegrini's side failed to respond to his warning they had no "margin for error" in the title race.

Pellegrini opted for a 4-4-2 formation, with Wilfried Bony partnering Aguero in attack, but despite their dominance the visitors rarely looked dangerous and failed to muster a shot on target in the second half.

Bony was a peripheral figure and it was little surprise when he was replaced just before the hour mark by Raheem Sterling, though the winger's introduction failed to lift the away side.

Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony failed to touch the ball in the Norwich area

The worry for Pellegrini, who will be replaced in the summer by Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola, will be the lack of creativity, intensity and urgency from his side.

"Me and [Norwich goalkeeper] John Ruddy could have had the afternoon off to be honest," said visiting keeper Joe Hart. "We weren't good enough to win the game."

Hart and his team-mates will be looking over their shoulders in the race for Champions League football, with only a two-point gap between them and fifth-placed West Ham.

Can Norwich beat the drop?

Norwich remain in the bottom three after winning only their second point from their past 10 league games.

But, if they can continue to defend in the same way and add goals to this sort of performance, they will believe they can avoid relegation.

"It is a big point and sends a message out to the teams around us and maybe dents them again," said Norwich defender Russell Martin.

Canaries boss Alex Neil has rarely had cause to question his side's desire, and his players again put in a performance full of effort and commitment - running 5km more than their opponents.

The plan might have been to frustrate their visitors and hope to catch them on the break, but scoring goals remains an issue with just three in their past seven games.

Neil hoped giving Bamford his first Premier League start might solve the problem but though the on-loan Chelsea forward went closest to scoring, Norwich did not manage a shot on target.

Man of the match - Timm Klose

Norwich centre-back Timm Klose (right) made his team's most interceptions (five) and blocks (four)

Manager reaction

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini: "We are disappointed. We tried to be aggressive with and without the ball. We had a good attitude but we could not create space.

"Of course we should create more in the last third. We were static up front. Every time that you drop points it is harder but you must continue thinking in a positive way. We must always try to win the title while we mathematically can."

Norwich City boss Alex Neil: "We will see at the end of the season how significant that point was.

"We had much better decision-making. Last time Norwich got relegated they were five points above the relegation zone with seven games to play so there's no reason why we can't catch some of those above us."

Pundit analysis

Former Norwich striker Chris Sutton on BBC Radio 5 live: "This is the end for Manchester City now, they are not going to win the title. Absolutely done. They have been like it all season. They just haven't shown enough urgency or real effort to win."

The stats you need to know

• Manchester City have scored just eight goals in their past 12 Premier League away matches.

• This is Man City's lowest points tally (51) after 29 games of a Premier League season since 2008-09 (35).

• This is Norwich's worst run in the Premier League (10 games without a win) within a single Premier League campaign since November 2004 (13 games).

• Norwich failed to have a single shot on target in this match - the first time they have done so this season in the Premier League and the first time in the competition since April 2013.

• Martin made his 120th Premier League appearance for Norwich in this game and became the player to make the most appearances in the competition for the club ahead of Mark Bowen (119).

What next?

Manchester City will take a 3-1 lead into the home leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday (19:45 GMT). Norwich's fight for survival sees them visit West Brom on Saturday, 19 March (15:00 GMT) in their next game.