The Blues hit the front early on through a Jaden Philogene penalty after Jack Taylor was fouled, with George Hirst doubling the lead just before the interval.
The match became scrappy after the break, with numerous fights breaking out in a tense East Anglian affair, with Town securing victory to continue their automatic promotion charge.
Ben Johnson started at right wing against the Canaries (Image: Ross Halls)
TEAM NEWS
Kieran McKenna made four changes to the team that beat Birmingham City 2-1 on Easter Monday.
Christian Walton started in goal, playing behind Darnell Furlong, Dara O’Shea, Jacob Greaves and the returning Leif Davis, who came in at left-back.
Azor Matusiwa was deemed fit enough to start in midfield, partnering Jack Taylor, who replaced Dan Neil.
In attack, Ben Johnson was moved to the right flank, with Anis Mehmeti through the middle and Philogene on the left, replacing Marcelino Nunez and Jack Clarke respectively.
Up front, Hirst led the line.
Norwich XI: 4-2-3-1: Kovacevic; Stacey (Chrisene 74′), Darling, Cordoba, Fisher; Mattsson, Field (Schwartau 46′); McLean, Ben Slimane (Maghoma 63′), Ahmed; Kvistgaarden (Toure 46′)
Town XI: 4-2-3-1: Walton; Furlong, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis (Kipre 85′); Matusiwa, Taylor; Johnson, Mehmeti (Nunez 61′, Neil 84′), Philogene (Clarke 71′); Hirst (Azon 61′)
Jaden Philogene opened the scoring from the penalty spot (Image: Ross Halls)
ICE-COOL JADEN
While Ipswich opted to switch ends at the pre-match coin toss, forcing Norwich to attack the Barclay Stand in the first half – which they prefer to do after the break – the hosts looked more comfortable in the early stages, with Walton dropping a cross in the box that was almost pounced upon.
Yet in a bizarre turn of events, Town took the lead with 10 minutes on the clock. Greaves headed a ball on in the box, but Anis Ben Slimane cleared, catching Taylor high in doing so.
The Canaries cleared and launched a counter, but referee Anthony Backhouse pointed to the spot around five seconds after the contact, awarding a penalty. Hirst looked set to take it, but ended up handing the ball to Philogene, who was ice-cold in firing past Vladan Kovacevic to make it 1-0 in the 11th minute.
They could’ve had a second five minutes later. Davis delivered a free-kick onto the head of Hirst from the left, with the striker forcing a good save from Kovacevic to keep it out.
From then, neither side really threatened. Norwich looked dangerous with the ball in Ipswich’s half, but the Blues could have made it 2-0 when O’Shea curled a ball up to Mehmeti in the 28th minute, although he lost it before he could take aim.
George Hirst doubled the lead just before half-time (Image: Ross Halls)
THIRD TIME LUCKY!
Ipswich were fortunate when playing out from the back. A poor pass from Taylor to Matusiwa allowed Norwich to regain possession in the final third, but Taylor recovered with a sensational on Pelle Mattsson to keep them out of the box in the 36th minute.
Norwich piled on the pressure, helped by Ipswich’s sloppiness on the ball. Their most threatening moment came when Kellen Fisher crossed in from the left with his stronger right foot, forcing Greaves to head behind, but almost into his own net. Town cleared the resulting corner in the 41st minute.
Hirst came close once again in a rare Town counter in the 45th minute, robbing Ali Ahmed of the ball in midfield before sending Philogene away up the left. The winger played it back to Hirst, who forced a strong save from Kovacevic.
It was third time lucky for Hirst, however, as Furlong’s subsequent long throw was flicked on by the back of Greaves, allowing Hirst to volley a strike through the legs of Jose Cordoba to make it 2-0 in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.
The match descended into chaos after the restart (Image: Ross Halls)
TENSIONS RISE
For Ipswich, the second-half gameplan had to be to settle down and try to take the sting out of the game. Ben Slimane did have an opportunity to threaten in the 51st minute, running under little pressure down the left flank before rolling a tame effort into the gloves of Walton.
Up the other end, a slick pass from Canaries skipper Kenny McLean sent half-time substitute Mohamed Toure into the box, but he scuffed his shot and fired wide of the target.
A foul from McLean sparked a scuffle, with Town earning a free-kick a few yards outside the penalty area. Ivan Azon was introduced for Hirst, while Nunez made his Carrow Road comeback in place of Mehmeti, hounded by boos.
His first action was to fire the free-kick into the wall to loud jeers from the home fans.
Tensions boiled over in the 68th minute as Nunez charged into Mattsson, picking up a yellow card for his troubles. Harry Darling ran over to shove the Chilean, with caused a brawl and saw him also given a yellow, with O’Shea attempting to play peacemaker by shielding Nunez.
At this point, both teams had four bookings each. Clarke replaced goalscorer Philogene soon after.
Marcelino Nunez was withdrawn less than 23 minutes after coming on against his former club (Image: Ross Halls)
CHAOS AT CARROW ROAD
The game descended into chaos, which the referee did well to manage. O’Shea was forced to make a last-ditch tackle to deny Ahmed up one end in the 78th minute, while Nunez was sent through just a minute later, sending Azon away to be denied by Kovacevic.
Nunez was fortunate to avoid a second yellow card for sliding in on Cordoba, which caused even more carnage, with Norwich boss Philippe Clement booked for protesting.
McKenna had seen enough. Nunez was withdrawn, replaced by Neil, while Cedric Kipre replaced Davis.
The finale was, in comparison, quite tame, with Ipswich seeing out six minutes of stoppage time to do the double over Norwich for the first time since 1992/93, moving them back to second in the Championship table.
Attendance: 26,826 (1,944 away)