Norwich City 1-1 West Bromwich Albion: Baggies halt Canaries' six-match winning run

Dara O'Shea's goal earned West Brom their seventh draw of the season

West Bromwich Albion ended Norwich City's six-match winning run as they took a well-deserved point at Carrow Road.

Dara O'Shea was left unmarked six yards out at the back post to head in John Swift's inswinging free-kick to give the Baggies an early lead.

Gabriel Sara almost levelled on his first league start of the season when his angled shot hit the bar.

The Baggies looked comfortable but had to settle for a seventh draw of the season when Teemu Pukki's goalbound shot struck team-mate Sam Byram and wrong-footed goalkeeper David Button.

Conor Townsend made a goal-saving challenge to deny Byram, and Button saved from Kieran Dowell, but a late Norwich winner would have been harsh on Steve Bruce's side.

The Baggies boss reacted to their miserable midweek derby defeat by Birmingham City with four changes, and their gameplan worked - ceding possession to Norwich in harmless areas while looking to break.

Yet they remain just a place above the bottom three with one win from their opening 10 matches as Byram's inadvertent finish made it seven matches unbeaten for the below-par Canaries. They stay second, three points behind leaders Sheffield United.

Norwich went into the game with eight goals in their previous three matches with Josh Sargent scoring six in his last six matches, but neither he, nor Pukki, had a sniff for much of the game as Albion kept the hosts at arm's length.

Following O'Shea's first-half opener, Jayson Molumby almost doubled the lead on the hour when he placed a side-footed effort just past the post, before Brandon Thomas-Asante smashed an effort just wide.

But the Baggies have scored more than once only twice this season and moments later they were made to pay when the hosts' equaliser was allowed to stand despite strong protests that Byram had handled the ball.

Norwich manager Dean Smith told BBC Radio Norfolk:

"We got away with one, we know that. We didn't play anywhere near well enough. We gave a soft goal away at the start of the game, which allowed them to drop deep, close up the spaces in front of them, and we never found the solutions.

"It was a really soft goal and after that we ran out of ideas at times. We ran down some blind alleys, got frustrated, and made poor decisions.

"It was a clear deflection that went in and we were fortunate to get that goal but, by the letter of the law they got it right. It hit Sam Byram on the shoulder, which I'm led to believe now is not handball - it has to be below the T-shirt line."

West Bromwich Albion boss Steve Bruce told BBC Radio WM:

"It's tough at the minute because again we've come here and played very, very well and I've been saying that for a lot of the games.

"We just have to keep believing it will turn. I still think we're close, but I'm aware that we have to put a couple of wins together. But keep playing like that and we'll be fine. Eventually it will turn for us.

"When you see eight or nine appealing for a handball, all around the ball, then you understand that it is. But I have to say the three officials didn't do their job well enough, for me, all day long."