Everton's Michael Keane flicks in to plunge Norwich closer to relegation

Greater escapes have happened. Teams have pulled back from grimmer positions than this. Two factors continue to play in Norwich’s hands: their run-in is, relatively, gentle and three of the other strugglers have returned from shutdown with the haunted look of the doomed. But still, after the great reset, if you were planning to stay up you probably wouldn’t start this final quarter of the season with a pair of home defeats against Southampton and Everton.

All teams will have their tales of woe, their theories as to how they were the ones who really suffered from lockdown and the absence of fans, but Norwich’s perhaps rings truer than most. All five of their scheduled home games after the restart were against teams currently in the bottom half of the table; the loss of home advantage perhaps has afflicted them more than most. It’s hard to claim a 3-0 defeat by Southampton would have been different with fans but this might have been. Drab games have sputtered along in front of the most passionate crowds, but this was one of those matches that felt like it needed something, anything, to shake it from its drift.

Related: Norwich City v Everton: Premier League – live!

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