Everton were unable to record successive Premier League victories for the first time this season as two second-half goals secured victory for Norwich City at Goodison Park.
The Blues, who entered this game unbeaten in three on their own ground, pushed for an equaliser following Todd Cantwell’s 54th-minute opener but found the visitors’ rearguard in resilient form – and were hit on the counter in stoppage time when Dennis Srbeny prodded home.
Norwich goalkeeper Krul twice denied Gylfi Sigurdsson and saved sharply from Cenk Tousn, while Richarlison shot into the side netting and substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin was close to converting from a Sigurdsson flick.
The away team grabbed the lead when England Under-21 midfielder Cantwell, Norwich’s best player, strode onto Teemu Pukki’s prodded through ball to clip a low finish inside Jordan Pickford’s near post.
And substitute Srbeny took advantage of a fortunate deflection off Sigurdsson to bundle the ball past Pickford after two of five minutes added time.
Sigurdsson spitting blood from his mouth after taking a whack from Cantwell was probably the most colourful sight of an attritional first-half.
Neither side lacked adventure particularly. It was just that both were in stubborn mood, disciplined and good at squeezing their opponents’ attacks to the margins.
When Tosun found space to spin onto a return pass from captain Sigurdsson the Turk’s shot flashed across goal.
Theo Walcott sent an effort on a similar trajectory. The forward delayed, shimmied, then swatted a cross-shot which evaded Richarlison at the back post.
Norwich wanted to construct their play through the middle of the field. Any joy the away team was having, however, was tending to come with balls delivered from deep.
Sam Byram’s touch failed him when centre-half Christoph Zimmermann popped a pass into space behind Djibril Sidibe.
Right on half-time former Leeds United player Byram mugged Walcott but rifled over via a deflection after advancing via an exchange of passes with Onel Hernandez.
Yerry Mina and Mason Holgate had both rushed at Byram as he drew back his right foot to shoot.
Morgan Schneiderlin was equally quick to the punch earlier in the half when Cantwell took possession of the ball following Hernandez’s deep cross from the left.
French midfielder Schneiderlin’s intervention sent the ball squirting wide from Cantwell’s strike.
The Everton player had to be spot on with his timing, having been rather unfortunate to go into the book on 20 minutes for his enthusiastic effort at making amends after directing an errant pass to Hernandez.
Zimmermann was yellow carded minutes later for wrestling back the advancing Richarlison on halfway.
Norwich had two attacking trump cards in the shape of wide players Hernandez and Cantwell, the latter especially impressive given he wedded a tremendous appetite for defending to his creative smarts.
It was midfielder Kenny McLean, though, whose weighted through pass enabled Hernandez to race into Everton’s box just before the half hour and lash a drive which Pickford pushed out to his right.
Pickford’s task had been far more routine on 13 minutes to clutch a rising strike from Hernandez, the keeper’s gloves already warmed by Tom Trybull’s header following a Hernandez corner.
Sixty seconds before Hernandez broke it was Everton posing a threat from a corner, Lucas Digne the taker, Mina winning the first ball but Tom Davies denied by Tim Krul when the midfielder redirected a header on target.
When Krul had been unable to come from his line to claim Digne’s inswinging right-wing free-kick, Byram got a touch significant enough to have teammates queuing up to offer congratulations for his work.
Everton had a scare immediately after half-time. Striker Pukki escaped into the box but seemed unsure whether to shoot or wait for support and ultimately did neither.
Tosun by contrast knew exactly what he wanted to do when Schneiderlin hung up a ball which was cleared to the edge of the box.
The forward was quick on the draw but Ben Godfrey’s block sent the ball spiralling over the top.
Norwich had all manner of bother trying to clear the subsequent corner but were eventually off the hook when Zimmermann threw himself in the way of a Schneiderlin drive.
Byram was off target with a free header five minutes after Cantwell’s strike – which was directly followed by Alex Iwobi replacing Schneiderlin.
Richarlison thrashed into the side netting after fastening onto Tosun’s pass and – after Calvert-Lewin and Seamus Coleman came on in the places of Walcott and Sidibe – Norwich keeper Krul held Sigurdsson’s 18-yard drive.
The same opposition players were face to face again soon after but Krul worked far harder to get down and save Sigurdsson’s well-hit strike from much closer in.
Between times, the three substitutes were all involved as Everton sliced through Norwich but to no tangible ends.
Calvert-Lewin headed for the box after passing to Sigurdsson and watched as the ball was transferred to Iwobi.
He found Coleman, whose cross was neatly flicked on by Sigurdsson but an inch too far in front of the straining Calvert-Lewin.
Krul saved down to his right from Tosun’s shot across goal as Everton set up camp in Norwich’s defensive third.
Calvert-Lewin expertly controlled Davies’s ball but was swallowed up by defensive bodies, while Digne aimed a free-kick which skipped off the turf and into Krul’s midriff.
Everton’s attempts tally was rising by the minute. Krul was equal to Davies’s rising, swerving drive from distance.
The home team committed more and more bodies to attack. But two minutes after it was signalled five would be added, Norwich inflicted the killer blow.
Sigurdsson tracked back to tackle Emiliano Buendia but saw the ball ricochet to Buendia’s fellow substitute Srbeny, who forced it home.
