Norwich City U21 and Stoke City U21 played out a goalless draw in Premier League 2, Division One on Friday evening. The match ended 0-0 at Carrow Road after ninety minutes of action that offered little in the way of clear-cut chances. Both sides had their moments but neither could find the back of the net.
The second half brought a flurry of changes, with nine substitutions in total. The first came at the break — E. Mundle Smith and G. Forsyth both came on for the forty-sixth minute. Stoke's S. Rowland picked up a yellow card in the sixty-second minute, the only booking of the game. More changes followed through the final third of the match.
And here's the thing about the statistics — Norwich dominated possession at fifty-eight per cent and registered nine shots on target, but still couldn't break through. Stoke managed only two shots on target from five-one attacks, and sat deep to soak it up. The difference in shots off target was stark: twelve to one. It wasn't a game where efficiency mattered, because neither side produced any.
By then the standings told their own story. Norwich sit tenth with four points from two games, having picked up a win and a draw. Stoke languish in twenty-fifth place with just one point from a draw and a defeat. The hosts had won their previous outing one-nil against Middlesbrough U21, while the visitors lost two-three at Brentford U21 on their last outing.
The result leaves Norwich still unbeaten and Stoke looking for their first win. Three points separated them before kick-off, and that gap remains unchanged after a match that belonged to neither side.