Derby County 0-1 Norwich City: Kieran Dowell free-kick earns Canaries win
- Published
Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul made several second-half saves to thwart Derby
Championship leaders Norwich edged past struggling Derby to move within two points of securing promotion back to the Premier League.
Former Rams loanee Kieran Dowell whipped in the only goal with a fine free-kick from just outside the box.
Wayne Rooney's hosts dominated the second half - Colin Kazim-Richards spurning an opening, Teden Mengi's curling shot saved by Tim Krul and Patrick Roberts thwarted by the Norwich keeper.
But Derby have now won just one of their past 10 games, Graeme Shinnie striking over in stoppage time after Krul was tackled by Kazim-Richards in his own penalty area.
Norwich's next game is the late kick-off against Bournemouth on 17 April but Daniel Farke's side will be promoted before then if Swansea drop points against either Sheffield Wednesday or Wycombe and Brentford fail to beat Millwall.
Derby, meanwhile, drop to 20th and are seven points above third-bottom Rotherham, who have four games in hand on them.
The teams observed a two-minute silence before the game and wore black armbands in memory of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died on Friday aged 99.
The Canaries were unchanged from Tuesday's 7-0 triumph over Huddersfield but came nowhere near those levels at Pride Park, though Dowell's set-piece strike into the top corner was a touch of class.
After that it was a story of missed Derby chances as the visitors extended their unbeaten Championship run to 13 games, conceding only five goals in that time.
'We didn't allow them a chance' - reaction
Derby County manager Wayne Rooney said:
"We performed very well, especially second-half. It's not the result we wanted, but we can take some encouragement.
"There are a couple of big games coming up for us and we have to take points regardless of our performance.
"We have to focus on getting more points, because we're at a crucial time of the season."
Norwich City manager Daniel Farke said:
"We started quite well and deserved to be in the lead, then we lost a bit of our sharpness through the game and you also get a bit nervous.
"When its not such a magic night like on Tuesday, you have to dig in and make sure you return to the dressing room with a clean sheet.
"Let's be honest, we didn't allow them a chance during the whole game."