Philippe Clement sees ‘big improvement’ despite Norwich being held by Oxford

New head coach Philippe Clement was determined to look on the bright side after seeing Norwich concede a stoppage-time equaliser to draw 1-1 with Oxford.

In what was Clement’s first home match in charge, the Canaries finally registered their first Championship point of the season at Carrow Road.

But it felt like another defeat as U’s substitute Filip Krastev popped up with a leveller five minutes into added time to cancel out Jovon Makama’s fine opener.

The draw meant Norwich remain five points of adrift of their fourth-from-bottom opponents but Clement saw reasons for optimism afterwards.

“There was a big improvement from Saturday (when they lost 4-1 at Birmingham),” he said.

“There was a better structure to the team, better chance creation and the fans saw a team who deserved to win the game.

“There are still a lot of things that need to be better but I think a week ago everyone would have settled for this performance, although obviously not the result.

“The team played some good football in spells and created plenty of chances – but we were unable to get the second goal to kill off the game.

“There is a lot to work with here and a lot of players are not available because of injury and some that are not at the level I want them to be.

“It will take time – certainly a lot longer than a week – but I already feel really good here.”

Norwich led at the break courtesy of a well-taken 29th-minute goal from Makama, who volleyed spectacularly into the roof of the net as the loose ball dropped to him in the box.

The hosts should have sealed the points during a period of intense pressure early in the second period when Josh Sargent, Makama and Emi Marcondes all missed chances – and they were made to pay in the fifth minute of added time.

A slick passage of play down the right ended with Sam Long sweeping the ball into the area where Krastev had all the time and space he required to sidefoot home in emphatic fashion.

Oxford manager Gary Rowett was delighted to come away with a draw which maintained his side’s five-point advantage over the Canaries.

“On the balance of play, I am more than happy with a point,” he said. “When a side is 1-0 up and doesn’t put their opponents away they are always open to something like that happening at the end.

“I actually thought we were excellent for the first 30 minutes and when they scored it was a bit harsh on us.

“But they then had a 20-minute spell when they put us under a lot of pressure and we needed some good defending, good blocks and some wastefulness on their part.

“We stayed in it and were able to make an attacking quadruple substitution which eventually led to us getting our goal.

“This is an honest team, a good group of lads, who always keep going to the end.”