It was a tough defeat for Norwich City to take as the Canaries dominated in terms of possesion and chances. However, they were denied by two great saves from Derby keeper David Marshall and when they had a penalty early in the second-half, Teemu Pukki slipped at the crucial moment to send the ball over the crossbar.

Daniel Farke made three changes to the side that lost to AFC Bournemouth last Sunday; as Emi Buendia, Marco Stiepermann and Ben Gibson came into the starting XI for Kenny McLean, Ben Godfrey and Przemyslaw Placheta. For Gibson it represented his Norwich City debut, while it was also Buendia’s first start of the campaign.

Following a 4-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers last time out, Phillip Cocu made five changes to his starting line-up as Curtis Davies and Matt Clarke came into a back three. They joined Graeme Shinnie, Duane Holmes and George Evans in the starting line-up. Meanwhile Rooney moved up front with Duane Holmes and Kamil Jozwiak as they switched formations.

Norwich enjoyed the majority of the play in the opening 45 minutes, without troubling Derby keeper Marshall enough. Early on Norwich managed to play their way through a stubborn Derby setup, with Stiepermann having a shot from the edge of the box that was saved by Marshall.

A minute later a good reverse pass from Lukas Rupp found Pukki in the area and he spun and played a ball to the far post for Onel Hernandez but Nathan Byrne cleared well with a last-ditch tackle.

At the other end, Derby had their only first-half effort after 21 minutes when Holmes sent a ball in from the right for Rooney volley off target.

The rest of the half saw Derby continue to frustrate. Buendia did sidestep a couple of challenges on 41 minutes before the ball broke loose to Hernandez but again Byrne was in the right place again to block.

City then had a great chance to take the lead early in the second half when a flowing, one-touch passing move saw Hernandez hit a shot towards goal that was blocked by the arm of George Evans. However, Pukki lost his footing when stepping up to take the penalty and skied the ball over the crossbar.

Moments later Stiepermann played a quick one-two with Rupp before firing a right-foot shot wide from 20 yards.

Farke made a couple of changes either side of the hour mark, sending on Adam Idah and Mario Vrancic for Stipermann and Hernandez

On 72 minutes Derby had their first effort on target as Morgan Whittaker broke from halfway and shot from the edge of the box forcing Tim Krul into a good save down to his left. Then with 15 minutes remaining, Aarons crossed for Rupp but he could only send his header over the crossbar.

A couple of minutes later Aarons took advantage of some sleepy defending from Derby to get on the end of a Vrancic cross, but his first-time volley was well saved by Marshall.

So it was still Norwich looking the more likely to score when, with three minutes to go, Jason Knight picked the ball up on halfway and ran the defence before being brought down. That gave Rooney a free-kick on the edge of the box that he curled a shot into the corner of the net.

City did have a chance to draw level but substitute Jordan Hugill was denied by a great fingertip save by Marshall.

Norwich City: Krul; Aarons, Zimmermann (Vrancic, 66), Gibson, Quintilla; Buendia, Rupp, Stiepermann, Skipp, Hernandez (Idah, 56); Pukki (Hugill, 83).

Subs not used: McGovern, Hanley, McLean, Tettey.

Yellows: Buendia, Zimmermann, Rupp

Derby County: Marshall; Evans, Clarke, Davies; Byrne, Shinnie, Knight, Buchanan; Holmes (Whittaker, 62), Rooney (Marriott, 87), Jozwiak (Bird, 79).

Subs not used: Roos, Forsyth, Te Wierk, Hector-Ingram.

Goals: Rooney (87)

Yellows: Shinnie, Knight

Referee: Stuart Attwell

Late Wayne Rooney free-kick gives Derby victory at Carrow Road

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