Norwich City 0 Leicester City 0

Last updated : 19 January 2008 By Footymad Previewer
Norwich City failed to convert a string of chances and were left to rue a host of dubious decisions from the referee after being held to a goalless draw by Leicester City.

Leicester kicked off attacking the River End goal and Steve Howard had the first shot but it went wide.

At the other end, Lee Croft volleyed in a left-wing cross from Ryan Bertrand only to see the effort chalked off by an offside flag.

Dion Dublin then headed against the crossbar and, as he attempted to get his head to the rebound, there was a hint of a handball as it was flicked away.

After 18 minutes of constant pressure from the Canaries, Ched Evans saw his goalbound shot blocked by a defender's leg.

In a rare Leicester attack, James Wesolowski fired wide before Evans saw another shot blocked.

Goalkeeper Ben Alnwick saved from Croft in a one-on-one situation, before Leicester's tenth foul of the half brought a booking for Richard Stearman's challenge.

Alnwick was lucky to stay on the pitch after lunging at Darel Russell after both of them had gone for a 50-50 ball.

Referee Tony Bates booked both players which was harsh on Russell.

Mark Fotheringham also saw yellow and Wesolowski might have seen red for a studs-up challenge on Russell.

Barry Hayles replaced Zsolt Laczko at half-time.

Dublin's shot was kept out by Alnwick with no Norwich player on hand to turn in the rebound.

Evans was replaced by Jamie Cureton who brought a good save from Alnwick with a fierce drive.

The Foxes keeper rode his luck with a body check on Russell but referee Bates turned down penalty appeals.

In a rare Leicester attack, Barry Hayles beat David Marshall to a through ball, but Jason Shackell cleared it to safety before it reached the goal.

Cureton and Croft fired over and Dublin's header came back off the post resulting in the goalless scoreline.