Norwich manager Daniel Farke was feeling hard done by after seeing his table-topping side held to a 1-1 draw by struggling QPR at Carrow Road.
The Canaries moved five points clear at the top as a result of the stalemate but were left frustrated after an 84th-minute penalty from Bright Osayi-Samuel prevented them from stretching their advantage further.
Farke felt the decision from referee Oliver Langford was harsh on his side and was also fuming about a disallowed goal early the second half which came during a period when the Canaries were creating chance after chance.
The flag stayed down when top scorer Teemu Pukki burst through but when he squared to Todd Cantwell to apply the finishing touch it went up for offside.
Pukki went on to put City ahead from the spot in the 75th minute when Dominic Ball brought down Cantwell but Osayi-Samuel followed suit nine minutes later after being fouled by Christoph Zimmermann to restore parity and spoil the leaders’ evening.
Farke said: “Overall the feeling is one of disappointment because this was a game we deserved to win.
“We dominated possession and created lots of chances, especially in the second half, and I can’t believe we only have one point.
“A lot went against us in the first half, with a couple of penalty appeals being turned down, and losing our goalkeeper [Michael McGovern] through injury and we kept going on an horrendous pitch, kept creating chances and finally we scored a fantastic team goal.
“I have seen it again and it was not offside. Teemu is there with the back-pass and Todd Cantwell is a yard behind the ball. Everyone can have their own opinion about the decision-making but I will keep my opinion to myself because I don’t want a record ban.
“After four or five appeals we finally got a penalty which Teemu puts away but then they get a penalty which I thought was going to be a goal-kick.
“To be fair we didn’t help ourselves by making a risky pass which was intercepted and then not making a tackle when we hard a chance.”
McGovern was replaced by teenager Daniel Barden at the break, with the Welshman making his league debut after playing in Norwich’s opening game of the season at Luton in the Carabao Cup.
Farke added: “I thought he did really well – he is an important part of our group and with Tim [Krul] out and Michael injuring his hamstring he came in a did a good job for the side.”
Rangers manager Mark Warburton was delighted with the draw, even though Osayi-Samuel missed a glorious chance to win it in stoppage time when he scooped an Albert Adomah cross over the bar from point-blank range.
He said: “I thought the lads put in a terrific effort over the full 90 minutes and fully deserved to come away with a point.
“Yes, it could have been all three but I am not going to criticise Bright. He did well to get in the right position to get on the end of the cross and nine times out of 10 he would put it in, probably more than that. But these things happen and we will take the draw and move on.
“We were up against a side with a lot of good players and stuck to our game plan, defending well and creating one or two chances ourselves.
“I was disappointed with their penalty because they had been shouting for them all game, making a lot of noise in an empty stadium, and finally the referee has fallen for it.
“It seems the louder you shout the more you get with the fans not here and that is disappointing.”
