Jamal Lewis's precise strike gives Norwich win over Leicester

Against the great escapologists of old, Norwich gave themselves genuine reason to believe a new Houdini act is possible. Nobody expects them to emulate Leicester in steaming on to win next season’s Premier League, but survival this year no longer seems out of the question and by one measure they are ahead of schedule. Back in 2014-15, Leicester began eating into a seven-point deficit with nine games to play; Daniel Farke’s side are two matches better off and a campaign that had all but been explained away as a learning experience pulsates, at least for the next week or so, with fresh life.

They deserved this win, only the second in their last 15 top-flight outings, against opponents whose deterioration in the final half-hour was a puzzle. Norwich’s tails were already up when, 20 minutes from time, their indefatigable right-back Max Aarons stole a yard on Ben Chilwell and spotted his colleague on the opposite flank making ground rapidly. Aarons crossed perceptively, bypassing everyone in the middle and allowing Jamal Lewis to size things up on the far side of the box. Lewis controlled with his chest and then, with impeccable technique, cut across the ball to spear a raking low volley across Kasper Schmeichel and send Carrow Road into raptures.

Such a daring combination between two young full-backs epitomises why Norwich, who never want for ambition, would be widely popular jailbreakers. They have squandered inviting positions all season but this time never looked like allowing an increasingly flat Leicester, who should have been ahead by half-time and will point to VAR’s striking-off of a goal from Kelechi Iheanacho four minutes after the restart, a way back.

“It was such a spirited and committed performance with a deserved win and a clean sheet; it’s amazing,” Farke said. He was particularly pleased for Lewis, an exceptional 22-year-old whose season had been stalled by injury and the form of Sam Byram. “I’m unbelievably delighted for Jamal because he had a tough first season in the Premier League. He had to adapt to the level and then was out for 10 or 11 weeks.”

His team had struggled towards the end of a watchable first half but Iheanacho, tasked with leading Leicester’s attack after a calf injury kept Jamie Vardy away, missed their best opportunity when he turned onto Ayoze Pérez’s cross before shooting over from seven yards. Dennis Praet also struck the outside of a post but none of that seemed to matter when Iheanacho found his bearings in spectacular fashion.

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He raced Ben Godfrey to a long pass and then, having foraged inside, curled unstoppably past Tim Krul. But it quickly became apparent that the ball had bounced off Godfrey’s upper arm and struck Iheanacho’s hand before he took aim; the VAR decision to disallow the goal, confirmed by the Stockley Park-based Graham Scott, was correct under the current numbingly austere application of the rules but Brendan Rodgers was perplexed.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” he said. “In the worst case scenario it’s a free-kick for us. I think it’s unintentional from the defender and then I don’t know what Kelechi can do when it drops and hits his hand.”

He did not feel inclined to complain at length, though, even if his impression was that Leicester should not have lost. He acknowledged they had lacked the precision that has marked their past six months and admitted concern that 306 minutes have passed since their last goal. “We can’t dance around the truth,” he said. “We need to find that quality again.”

They might have been expected to show more of it after Iheanacho’s disappointment, but instead Norwich seized their reprieve and fired two warning shots at Schmeichel via the outstanding Ondrej Duda before Lewis’s coup de grace. Leicester would meet an unlikely target of their own by reaching the Champions League but there is still time for a teetering season to unravel; Norwich’s possibilities are now open to a degree that set Farke’s eyes ablaze.

“It would be a little miracle,” he said of the prize before him. “But we are here to create something special and if we go on further on with this belief, this unity and commitment, there’s definitely a chance to do this.” He only had to look at the team in blue, vanquished though they were, for all the evidence he needed.