Barnsley 1-0 Norwich City: Styles goal earns Tykes FA Cup fifth round spot
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Highlights: Barnsley 1-0 Norwich City
Callum Styles gave Barnsley a deserved win over Norwich to set up a potential FA Cup fifth-round tie against Chelsea.
The midfielder struck after 56 minutes as the hosts upset the form guide to defeat the Championship leaders.
Norwich came to life late on with Przemyslaw Placheta rattling the bar before Styles made a goal-saving block to deny Emi Buendia.
But the hosts held on to progress to the next round where they will host Chelsea or Luton, who play on Sunday.
The teams went into the game in contrasting form with Barnsley losing their last two and the Canaries flying high at the top of the Championship after winning their last three.
But the hosts made an electric start with Cauley Woodrow and Romal Palmer both testing Tim Krul on his 100th Norwich appearance.
Norwich were forced to soak up plenty of pressure and Michal Helik tested Krul again, before Styles went close and Dominik Frieser saw his dipping volley saved.
The Canaries, without Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell, seemed to have weathered the early storm and Max Aarons flashed a long-distance effort over the bar after 38 minutes, but that was the closest they came in the first half.
Barnsley finally made the breakthrough their efforts deserved after 56 minutes when the Canaries failed to deal with Callum Brittain's cross, allowing Styles to swivel before firing low past Krul.
Tykes top scorer Woodrow squandered a fine opportunity to double the lead on the hour when he mistimed his attempt to connect with Frieser's inviting cross.
Norwich eventually found some rhythm as Placheta saw his drive cannon back off the bar, before Styles prevented second-half substitute Buendia from equalising with just over 10 minutes left.
But Barnsley goalkeeper Brad Collins ended the game with his clean sheet intact, Norwich bowing out of the competition after mustering just one shot on target.
Barnsley head coach Valerien Ismael told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"We deserved to win and we are in the next round, that was our purpose. We got the job done and it's a great feeling for the guys.
"It will give us confidence and we will see that it is normal for us to compete at this level. If you don't score the second goal it will be tight until the end and in cup games you need luck on your side.
"We kept Norwich contained and it was exactly our game plan. It was an excellent job. The FA Cup is special and that's why we take the competition very seriously. Whoever our opponent is we will be ready."
Canaries head coach Daniel Farke told BBC Radio Norfolk:
"It was definitely not our best performance and congratulations to Barnsley, they deserved to win. Barnsley away is a difficult game at any time especially at this time of year when the pitch is that bad.
"They totally went for this game they started with more or less their best starting line-up and we decided today we needed to rotate a bit more than we would have done for a league game.
"But it was still a strong starting line-up on the pitch and we wanted to go into the next round. I don't want to criticise my team too much, we had chances to equalise, it was possible to win this game and for that we are disappointed."
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