Preston moved in five points of the play-off zone of the championship when she took a hard-fought 1-0 win over Norwich on Carrow Road.
An early attempt by striker Milutin Osmajic turned out to be enough to see an Under-Par thuis team and the well-drilled visitors could easily have won with a larger margin, with a number of opportunities that beg.
Norwich, who would have moved to the top six if they had won, hardly created a considerable chance all night and could have few complaints about the result.
Preston took only five minutes to continue, because Norwich's attempts to build from the back were thwarted by an enthusiastic press.
The ball fell against Mads Frokjaer who skillfully slid between two Norwich defenders before he squared the ball comfortably along an exposed Angus Gunn for Osmajic.
Norwich, who had lost skipper Kenny McLean to disease in the build-up, threatened to fall on goal within a minute as a Josh Sargent, but a well-timed block from Ryan Porteous kept his shot outside.
After Duane Holmes had dropped out on a stretcher with an injury on his left leg, the visitors created a few more good chances in the first half, with Ryan Ledson widely shot well and Osmajic fluffed his lines after he was set up after he was set up . Up through a Kaine Keser-Hayden cuts.
Norwich had most of the ball, but the shot of Anis Ben Slimane, who was entitled to keeper Freddie Woodman, was their only effort on goal before the break.
The Canaryi brought a triple replacement in the hour, with Sargent among those who left, trying to find a way back to the game.
But it was Preston who almost stretched their lead halfway through half when Ksler-Hayden shot painfully wide from far away after finding some space in a busy box.
Shane Duffy just went wide from a corner and a Borja Sainz attack was blocked when Norwich finally raised the pace, although Preston replacement Liam Lindsay made it almost 10 minutes of time with a header of a close-range of a corner that was centimeters wide wax.
Sainz saw a decent effort just widely bent in the final phase, but there would be no dramatic finish on Carrow Road.
The managers
Johannes Hoff Thorup van Norwich:
To follow …
Paul Heckingbottom from Preston:
To follow …
Comments