Norwich will have to wait for confirmation but they have all but sealed promotion to the Premier League, albeit in roundabout fashion. Though they stuttered to a fourth successive draw at Stoke, Leeds’s end-of-season struggles mean that, barring a full-blown implosion comprising two defeats and a 10-goal swing against, Norwich will return to the top flight after a three-year exile.
At the final whistle Norwich were drained, acutely aware they had passed up another golden opportunity to get the job done. Kenny McLean covered his face, Ben Godfrey bowed on all fours and Marco Stiepermann fell to the ground dejected. Daniel Farke’s emotions could not have been more different. Enveloped in a black trench coat, he gave a hearty thumbs-up to the luminous travelling Yellow Wall, a snapshot of the Norwich manager’s past at Borussia Dortmund.
Farke and his exuberant young side have been a breath of fresh air but nobody knew he was telepathic. His players’ emotions on discovering the result from Griffin Park, where Leeds choked for the second time in four days, must have been in stark contrast to those he witnessed at full-time.
“In general I told them, there is no need to do this,” Farke said. “We are on a 12-game unbeaten run, we are the league leaders and I think 23 teams would like to change their league position with us. It was up to me and the more experienced players to say: ‘Show [puff out] your chests’. It was a good, solid point. It is a good message for our young group.
“We were, of course, hoping for a win to make our lives more easy but success never comes easy. It is quite normal to feel a bit of pressure. When you can’t win a game, you have to make sure you don’t lose it. I wanted my players in this period to be a bit excited and to doubt themselves because, when you are too cool, too calm, and you are not on your best level. When you are a bit scared of what can happen, you need to have this feeling but also be confident. We have that self-confidence.”
With two games to play, Norwich are three points clear of second-placed Sheffield United and six clear of Leeds, who have a far inferior goal difference. Norwich’s supporters arrived in Stoke for a party. Their hearts were undoubtedly here – or back at Carrow Road, where 5,000 fans were watching on a big screen – but their heads were arguably elsewhere, glued to updates from Yorkshire and London, where their promotion rivals endured different fortunes. Sheffield United sailed into a 3-0 half-time lead, while Marcelo Bielsa’s side spectacularly stalled in the later kick-off at Brentford.
Until Ashley Williams caught Norwich cold after the restart, powering in a corner unmarked, it looked as though the visitors would have things all their own way. They took the lead through Onel Hernández, the winger opening the scoring when Jack Butland could get only a weak hand to his rasping effort inside the box. Up front, Teemu Pukki managed to occupy three Stoke centre-halves. But Stoke were a different beast after the break.
These teams are at contrasting stages of different journeys, Stoke slowly rebuilding under Nathan Jones after dropping out of the top flight while Norwich are almost back there. Their starting lineup consisted of four free transfers and three academy graduates, costing less than £5m, while Stoke’s cost 10 times that. This was, however, a sweet occasion for Tom Edwards, the 20-year-old academy graduate defender, who equalised with his first goal for his boyhood club.
Farke welcomed back Emiliano Buendia from a three-match suspension but, with Norwich huffing and puffing after being pegged back two minutes after the interval, they required more magic from Mario Vrancic. The substitute, who stepped off the bench to rescue a point against Sheffield Wednesday on Good Friday, floated a delightful ball in for Pukki to glance home his 28th league goal of the season. “It’s been a good journey so far and we just need to get over the line,” Pukki said.
That strike was difficult to swallow for Stoke, who had dominated the second half. Peter Etebo was an influential presence in midfield, while Sam Clucas was guilty of blazing over. Edwards, though, earned a deserved draw, rifling home after Hernández overplayed on the edge of the Norwich box. But in the end Norwich’s stumble was beautifully irrelevant.