Borja Sainz stunner helps Norwich beat 10-man Coventry

A late strike from Borja Sainz saw Norwich come from behind to beat Coventry 2-1 in an entertaining Championship clash at Carrow Road.

The Spanish winger produced a neat finish in the 84th minute to condemn the 10-man Sky Blues to their first defeat in 13 matches.

Mark Robins’ side had gone ahead early in the second half through Callum O’Hare’s well-taken goal, only to be pegged back 12 minutes later through Josh Sargent’s close-range finish.

The game turned again with 19 minutes remaining when Liam Kitching was sent off for bringing down Sargent as he burst into the box, with Norwich going on to make their extra man tell to move level with their opponents in the play-off race.

Norwich had marginally the better of a competitive first half which featured plenty of neat passing football but with little end product.

Coventry goalkeeper Bradley Collins did well to push away an early shot from Christian Fassnacht that was heading for the bottom corner before Sargent steered the ball wide from a good position under pressure from a visiting defender.

The sides tended to cancel each other out as the half progressed, with both keepers largely untested.

But Coventry also posed a threat, with the lively Haji Wright bringing out a decent save from Angus Gunn at the near post after trying his luck from a tight angle.

The Sky Blues made their first opportunity of the second period count, however, with O’Hare’s fine individual goal making it 1-0 in the 48th minute.

Norwich put themselves under pressure with a poor throw and Victor Torp slipped the ball through to O’Hare, who skipped past a couple of defenders before slipping the ball past Gunn.

The Norwich keeper then did well to foil a fast-breaking Wright as the Sky Blues sought to press home their advantage but the hosts hit back on the hour mark to level the scores.

Recently-introduced substitute Ashley Barnes saw his shot from a Gabriel Sara cross blocked but the ball fell nicely for Sargent to volley home his sixth goal of an injury-hit campaign.

Norwich were now on the front foot and received a further boost on 71 minutes when Kitching was shown a straight red card for bringing down Sargent on the edge of the box when he was the final defender.

Sara clipped the crossbar from the ensuing free-kick.

Coventry substitute Kasey Palmer was then denied by an excellent reaction save from Gunn but Norwich kept pressing and got their noses in front for the first time on 84 minutes.

The goal came after a break down the left, with Sainz exchanging passes with Barnes on the edge of the box before curling a delightful shot past Collins and into the far corner of the net.