Another late Norwich City show seals last-ditch point at Brentford

Brentford 1-1 Norwich City: A header in the last 10 minutes from Timm Klose gifted the visitors a point as they edged back into the game

Timm Klose heads home the equaliser for Norwich to steal a point (PA Wire)

New year, same old Norwich. It was another typical scene for the travelling fans this season, who've watched late goal after late goal. The inevitable onslaught here in the final 10 minutes saw the Canaries grab a point at Brentford, through a Timm Klose header.

The opener from Julian Jeanvier looked to make him the only name on the scoresheet, hoping to give the Bees a vital win and set the tone for 2019. Three points have been hard to come by since the departure of Dean Smith in October – they’ve only won twice in 13 games. But Norwich fought back into it and looked the more comfortable side headed towards full time, as they so often have in recent games.

Still reeling from Saturday’s dramatic Derby comeback, the visitors started on the back foot. Although both sides operate with a very fluid style, which made for an entertaining, free-flowing game, Brentford were asking all the questions.

Brentford's Romaine Sawyers (left) and Norwich City's Mario Vranci (PA)

After conceding twice from corners at the weekend, it was déjà vu for Tim Krul who was picking the ball out of his net again after Jeanvier headed in the opener for Brentford. Said Benrahma, whose skill and pace made him the afternoon's standout player, lofted the ball over for Jeanvier to head in his first for the club.

Norwich were a goal down, but also a man down, as Marco Stiepermann was forced off just before the opener. The German has been an integral part of why Daniel Farke’s side create so many chances, and his presence was clearly missed going forwards for the remainder, as replacement Tom Trybull failed to make an impact.

The tie involved the Championship’s joint-top scorers, Neal Maupay and Teemu Pukki, both of which have netted 15 this season. The fact the former is still up there shows his worth when matched against Brentford’s poor form. Though all the focus would've been on these two strikers in particular, the pair had a reasonably quiet game by their standards.

Maupay did come close early on, an effort flashing just wide of goal. Norwich were already fully aware of how dangerous the Bees striker can be, Max Aarons and Klose both receiving bookings for dragging the Frenchman down to prevent any damage on the counter.

Brentford's Daniel Bentley celebrates Julian Jeanvier scoring their first goal (Action Images)

Brentford took control of the first half, and headed into the last 30 minutes they still had more of a grip on the game, but you could sense the Norwich momentum bubbling away - something Bees boss Thomas Frank had warned his players of.

The visitors began to up the tempo, a Vrancic free-kick smacking the post. Though Brentford were still threatening on the break, there was much more purpose going forward from the Canaries, Aarons testing the keeper in the box.

At the other end, Krul was also in fine form in the second half, producing two terrific saves from a Jeanvier over-head kick and a menacing Maupay effort from outside the box, keeping Norwich in the game.

Though Griffin Park is powered by the same energy firm as Carrow Road, there was to be no floodlight intervention this time around for Norwich to take advantage of. Instead, they were gifted a late fumble in the penalty area from Daniel Bentley, who let Klose’s header from a Vrancic corner slip into the net with just seven minutes remaining. An agonising error.

Overall Brentford were impressive, and are unbeaten in their last their last four games now after opting for a solid three at the back. There'll be many positives for Frank to take away, but they fell just shy of victory here.