Ante Crnac marked his return from a long injury lay-off with a goal as Norwich City secured a place in the Carabao Cup third round, knocking out Cardiff City at CCS.
Crnac, making his first appearance in ten months after a cruciate ligament injury, added Norwich’s second after Mathias Kvistgaarden had put them ahead in the first half.
The win offers Norwich a lift after a slow start to their Championship campaign, where they have yet to record a victory.
Cardiff’s night will be remembered for the debut of Noah Anyadike, who became the youngest player in both the club’s and the competition’s history at 15 years and 98 days.
The Wales youth international was named in the starting XI by Brian Barry-Murphy due to a shortage of defenders, but was forced off with a knock early in the second half.
Chances were limited early on, with only long-range efforts from both sides, until Kvistgaarden broke the deadlock midway through the first half. Unmarked from a corner, he headed in firmly, and Liam Gibbs went close to doubling the lead soon after, denied by Nathan Trott.
Norwich nearly extended their advantage shortly after the interval when Anis Ben Slimane’s header struck the crossbar.
Crnac threatened from distance on his comeback, drawing a strong save from Trott, but the 22-year-old found his moment on 78 minutes, finishing calmly to put the tie beyond Cardiff.
Yousef Salech pulled one back in stoppage time with his fourth goal of the season, but it came too late to change the outcome.
The draw for the third round of the EFL Cup will take place on Wednesday, 26 August.
Cardiff City: Trott, Bagan, Turnbull (Moylan 67’), Willock, Robertson, J. Colwill, Ng, Davies (Ashford 67’), Anyadike (R. Colwill 55’), Kpakio, Robinson (Salech 67’). Subs: Tyrer, Scanlon, Moreno, Giles.
