Dean Smith makes 'rare' Liverpool admission after Norwich lose again

Dean Smith expressed frustration after his Norwich City side were beaten by "unbelievable" Liverpool at Anfield for the second time inside three weeks.

Lukas Rupp’s second-half strike wasn’t enough as the Canaries went down 2-1 in their FA Cup fifth round tie on Wednesday evening.

Two goals from Takumi Minamino had put Liverpool in control before the break, although Norwich created a clutch of decent chances to give Jurgen Klopp’s side a major scare.

And Norwich boss Smith highlighted the save late on from Alisson Becker to deny Jonathan Rowe that ensured the Reds’ quadruple hopes remain alive.

“It’s frustrating,” said Smith. “We knew it would be a tough task as Liverpool are rarely beaten here.

“We gave a real soft goal away for the first, although the second goal was a good strike and there wasn’t an awful lot we could have done about that.

“But we had a big chance with Teemu (Pukki) in the first half and Sarge (Josh Sargent) has had two, we scored and then Rowe had a great effort saved at 2-1 by Alisson. It was a hell of a save.

“We have had four or five really good chances against an unbelievable football team in Liverpool and it’s rare you can say that.”

Norwich, who last 3-1 at Liverpool in the Premier League last month, were also eliminated from the Carabao Cup by the Reds when going down 3-0 at Carrow Road back in September.

And of the latest defeat to Klopp’s side, Smith said: “In the first 15-20 minutes we asked some questions but they became comfortable after the first goal.

“We had to go and ask serious questions as we didn’t want the game to run away at 2-0 as it can do at Anfield with the quality they have got.

“We had to switch a couple of things at half-time as we felt they were having too much