Norwich 2 - 2 Charlton
Charlton dropped two precious points at Carrow Road and lost top spot in League One as Grant Holt’s injury-time header rescued Norwich in a 2-2 draw.
The big striker leapt to nod home Chris Martin’s deflected cross and complete a stirring fightback, although Charlton were convinced he had fouled goalkeeper Rob Eliot in the process of scoring.
The visitors had dominated the first half for long periods and looked to be heading towards a comfortable victory as they moved 2-0 ahead within 40 minutes.
The visitors took the lead after 18 minutes when poor defending from a corner allowed Deon Burton to send a diving header past goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
Phil Parkinson’s side doubled their advantage five minutes before the interval when winger Lloyd Sam weaved his way down the right flank before delivering a superb cross which was nodded home by youngster Jonjo Shelvey.
It looked as though Norwich were up against it at that stage, but they responded well to the setback and were back in it just before half-time when a quick throw from Holt caught the Charlton defence napping and Wes Hoolahan marked his return to the side by running through and firing home.
Norwich piled on the pressure after the break, with Elliot twice denying youngster Korey Smith, but Norwich got their reward in the end as Holt bundled home his sixth goal of the season.
Norwich striker Grant Holt heaped praise on his team-mate Wes Hoolahan after his goal in the Charlton draw.
The Irish midfielder looked set to move away in August, but new boss Paul Lambert has given him a fresh start.
Holt told BBC Radio Norfolk: “He played well. You put him in there and he’s a nuisance, he’s great on the ball and he’s a different option.
“Fair play to the manager, he put him in at the right time and it’s worked, we all know what Wes has got.”
Hoolahan scored in the 2-2 draw on Saturday from Holt’s quick throw, but the City skipper took no credit.
He said: “I heard the shout off Wes, I thought he was having a go at us, fortunately he got the ball and put it in.
“It was a great bit of awareness by Wes to see it was there and fortunately he put it in.”
“It shows that we’ve got the desire to win games, we never doubt the quality that we’ve got in the squad, we know we can score goals,” he said.
“Today it was a different style, we had to go for it, and we’ve done that and I think we’re unfortunate not to win the game.”
