The soaring Canaries took the lead with two goals in the second half.
Referee James Linington infuriated Plymouth manager Ian Foster after his team’s 2-1 loss to Norwich kept them deep in the Sky Bet Championship relegation battle.
After being taken aback by Morgan Whittaker’s first goal of the game in the 10th minute, his 20th of the season, the soaring Canaries scored two goals in the second half to win the match.
The second-half comeback cast doubt on Linington’s decision not to give Plymouth a penalty when Alfie Devine went down after keeper Angus Gunn challenged him, and there was also disagreement over the referee’s assertion that Lewis Gibson was offside prior to the corner kick that proved to be the winning goal.
Foster stated, “All we ask is that the officials make the right decisions, and that wasn’t the case today.”
“I felt that the referee made a number of incorrect calls, two of which were very important ones for the outcome of the game.
“It was obviously a penalty to me. Alfie was given a yellow card by their keeper, who slid in, failed to get the ball, and removed Alfie.
“After a collision between two of our players in the corner, the referee called for the physio right away. He didn’t inquire as to whether our player needed treatment, which he didn’t, and he was OK.
It was annoying, but we must take responsibility for our improper set-play defence.
“I am confident that the devoted supporters who travelled great distances to cheer on their team would have been pleased with the outcome.
“There were a lot of positives to take away from that overall, but we have talked about being more ruthless at the critical moments in both boxes.”
Within seven minutes, two goals from right-wing corners ended the match.
In the first, it went according to plan as substitute Christian Fassnacht played the ball low into Josh Sargent’s path from deep, giving him the room he needed to score his 14th goal of the year.
The ball was then deflected off Ashley Phillips and into the far corner of the net by regular taker Gabriel Sara after he sent in a more traditional corner to the near past, where Sam McCallum headed it.
Although Norwich’s victory was well-earned, the relegation-threatened Plymouth team gave the hosts a scare when Whittaker headed in Matthew Sorinola’s cross to make it 20 goals for the year in just 10 minutes.
“We came back from a big deficit, which was especially satisfying,” Norwich head coach David Wagner said.
“We came back from a big deficit, which was especially satisfying,” Norwich head coach David Wagner said.
“I thought we played really well in the first half; we created lots of chances but were unable to take them and didn’t let the goal affect us.”
“We struggled in the second half and, at times during the season, you have to rely on your set pieces, which we put a lot of effort into practicing.”
“In the end, it may not have been at the calibre we have demonstrated in the previous games, but the players have worked hard and demonstrated their unity to achieve the desired outcome once more.”
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