LEAGUE leaders City finally lost their amazing home winning streak when Southampton - aided by a hugely controversial red card for midfielder Darel Russell in the second half - claimed the points courtesy of a brace for Lee Barnard.
Southampton were the stronger side in the first half and took the lead on 32 minutes, albeit amidst huge protests from the City players.
Prolific front man Lambert slammed a superb 30-yard free-kick against Fraser Forster's crossbar and when the ball bounced down Barnard climbed above Michael Nelson to head home into the empty net. Referee Russell Booth was unmoved by strenuous City claims that Barnard had shoved Nelson in the back prior to scoring.
City emerged in better shape after the break and were twice denied by former Ipswich stopper Kelvin Davis early in the half as he first dived low to his left to keep out Nelson's low shot from the edge of the box and then acrobatically tipped Korey Smith's stinging drive on to the bar.
In the 64th minute the entire complexion of the game was changed by a hugely controversial decision from referee Booth. As Darel Russell challenged for a high ball with Morgan Schneiderlin there may have been a suspicion of a slightly high foot from the City midfielder but meriting no more than a free kick at most in the eyes of the City players and fans.
Mr Booth however must have seen something else as he stunned a packed Carrow Road by producing a straight red card for the Norwich midfielder.
It was a hammer-blow for a City team beginning to show signs of putting the visitors under real pressure and although the crowd roared on the ten Canaries remaining on the pitch, there were naturally gaps for Southampton's dangerous strikeforce to exploit.
With Nelson withdrawn and Anthony McNamee thrown into the fray, City were at full-stretch as Adam Lallana struck the same post twice in the space of two minutes and then conceded a second goal in the 77th minute as Barnard swept home his second of the match.
After the game Paul Lambert refused to blame the red card decision for his side's defeat - but said it was 'very likely' the Club would appeal against Russell's dismissal.
"We never reached the levels we've been achieving for the last four or five months, and when you don't play to those levels against a good side like Southampton then that's what can happen," he told First News. "We just fell short today.
"You've got to be honest with yourselves and the people who have come to watch the game, we didn't deserve anything today. But we're still top of the league and if you'd offered me that three games into the season I would have taken it."
On the red card he said: "From my angle Darel Russell can't see the lad coming in from behind him. I just thought it was bizarre, a really poor decision. If I look at it again and it looks the same again the I will definitely appeal that. I think it's very likely that we will appeal it.
"Russell just couldn't see him. It's an impossibility to see what's over your shoulder when you're just trying to keep the ball in play."
Lambert said the squad would be looking to bounce back against Southend at Carrow Road on Tuesday night (7.45pm): "We're top of the league and it's a good feeling - we'll be doing everything we can to maintain that.
"One thing's for sure we'll have a brilliant crowd behind us as always on Tuesday - and a wounded animal's a dangerous thing."
