Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson insisted Norwich were lucky not to have skipper Alex Tettey sent off during the thrilling 2-2 draw at Ashton Gate.
The midfielder was already on a yellow card when halting a 50th minute City break by pulling Marlon Pack’s shirt from behind.
Referee Roger East decided a free-kick was sufficient punishment, but Johnson thought otherwise.
He said: “The decision was a joke. A cynical foul is just that whatever area of the pitch it occurs in and that is what we are talking about.
“We had men breaking forward and were denied the opportunity to capitalise. The ref knows he made an error.
“Norwich are a very good side and I was delighted with the way we matched them. It is four matches unbeaten for us now and there is a lot to build on.
“We are getting players back from injury, while the likes of Callum O’Dowda are hitting their best form at an important time.
“I’m disappointed with the second equaliser because we lost a man at the far post, but overall I couldn’t be happier with my players.
“Our fans have gone home knowing that all of them gave 100 per cent for the badge and the least we deserved was a point.”
Marco Stiepermann fired Norwich ahead with an exquisite left-footed curler from outside the right corner of the box in the 39th minute.
But Famara Diedhiou equalised in first-half stoppage-time, netting right-footed from 15 yards with the aid of a deflection.
Callum O’Dowda then put the Robins in front after 53 minutes, firing in off the crossbar from a fine through ball by Pack.
But Norwich refused to buckle and hit back 12 minutes from time when full-back Max Aarons turned up at the far post to head in a cross by substitute Onel Hernandez.
Canaries boss Daniel Farkar was happy enough, despite seeing Leeds replace his team at the top of the Championship table.
“Bristol played very well and it is a good point for us,” he said. “It was a good interesting game with turning points for and against us.
“It was a difficult week for us because we had problems with the flu affecting four or five players. I didn’t want to mention it before the match because it might have looked like making excuses.
“Chris Zimmermann played even though he didn’t sleep last night and signalled to come off after an hour. Others felt a bit weak or were unable to train.
“So many things were against us today, so to get a draw after being 2-1 down showed the good character we have in the team.
“For Bristol, it was a spotlight game, televised live, against the league leaders and we knew they would be highly motivated.”
