The Sky Blues crashed out of the FA Cup at Carrow RoadTwo goals in the space of 80 devastating seconds put Norwich City on course for the fourth round of the FA Cup against Coventry City.
Despite carving out three chances inside the first two minutes, the Sky Blues suddenly found themselves trailing to a Kenny McLean goal on six minutes before Jordan Hugill had doubled the advantage little more than a minute later at Carrow Road.
Daniel Farke made seven changes to his side for the cup game but showed the strength in depth of his Championship leaders as they quickly asserted their authority with the ball.
City had made a really positive start to the third round tie with Max Biamou firing across the face of goal, Jordan Shipley hitting a shot straight to the keeper and Callum O’Hare being denied by a good save from rookie Norwich stopper Daniel Barden.
O’Hare’s effort was the best of the three and the attacking midfielder should really have scored when Gus Hamer played the ball into his feet in the box and, with the flag staying down, the forward turned to shoot, only to be denied by the keeper’s foot.
The Canaries then fired a warning shot at the other end when Bali Mumba found space to hit a shot at goal, with Ben Wilson catching above his head.
But the home side opened City up all too easily in the seventh minute when the outstanding Pryzemyslaw Placheta cut in from the left, fed Todd Cantwell who, in turn, slipped in Kenny McLean to pick his spot.
And within 60 second of the restart, Farke’s men had doubled their lead, Placheta again the architect as he sent a cross into the near post where striker Jordan Hugill sent an impressive glancing header past the keeper.
The game settled down a bit after that, albeit Norwich dominated much of the possession and knocked the ball about to ensure Coventry were limited to the occasional counter attack.
A half-time team talk appeared to put Mark Robins's men back on the right track as they started the second period with the same intentions as the first, with Biamou being denied from point blank range by the keeper, who pushed his powerful effort onto his left-hand post.
The 20-year-old stopper, who was making only his second senior appearance, denied the City striker again just after the hour when he turned and hit and angle shot in the box, only for a strong hand to block the effort.
City played with a lot more freedom and confidence as they attempted to get a goal to get themselves back in the game, and Robins sent on new signing Matty James to add quality in midfield, while Amadou Bakayoko added fresh legs up front in a straight swap for Biamou.
But the home side held firm on their lead to ensure it was the Sky Blues who crashed out of the competition.