‘Clear foul’ - Norwich boss frustrated by key incidents in Bristol City defeat

Mark Sykes’ fifth goal in six games was enough for Bristol City to take all three points against Norwich City - but should the goal have stood?

David Wagner believes Mark Sykes’ first-half goal in Bristol City’s 1-0 victory over Norwich City on Saturday should’ve been ruled out.

Kieran Dowell was dispossessed by Joe Williams in midfield before Cam Pring fed Sykes, who slotted home for the deciding goal on the day.

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Norwich struck back in the late stages of the match when Dimitris Giannoulis crossed for Adam Idah to tap home, but the linesman's flag was up for an offside call against the left back.

Wagner felt the key decisions in the match went against his side, but admitted that Norwich didn’t do enough to win.

“We deserved it (the loss) because of our performance,” he said. “But the situation before the goal for me was a clear foul, and the situation when we scored, I’ve seen the video footage, it was very tight whether it was offside or not.”

“Unfortunately, these situations did not go in our favour. But even with the key situations, this shouldn’t be our excuse. We lost this game because of our performance.”

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The Canaries recorded 65% possession against Nigel Pearson’s side and had twice as many shots, but the host’s resolute backline snubbed out any real opportunities for Wagner's men.

New Robins man Harry Cornick had the chance to put his side two ahead with 15 minutes to play, but Angus Gunn stood strong to save behind.

The English shot-stopper was arguably at fault for Sykes’ goal, but his manager refused to put any blame on Gunn: “I haven’t seen the goal back so far, but Angus did a normal game as a goalkeeper. I have only seen the situation when Kieran received the ball and got fouled and I've seen the situation of the offside.”

The result means back-to-back losses for the Canaries, as the Robins’ unbeaten run extends to nine.

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