What a difference a crowd makes, eh?
Football is a spectator sport and it needs it’s fans. They are the lifeblood of the game at any level and especially in modern stadiums built to hold tens of thousands of people. This was the second opportunity for Norwich to bring fans back into Carrow Road after the trial against Preston when the sun was still shining. That trial went very well, I was there that day and thought it was great, but then another rise in COVID levels shut the whole thing down.
Having had that trial already will no doubt have helped as City welcomed back 2,000 fans, this time to watch a game of live Championship football against Sheffield Wednesday.
As has become the norm for me these days, I was watching from the comfort of my sofa, with the family, watching on my iPad with a coffee but I would’ve loved to have been there. Right from the opening line of “On the ball City”, the crowd made their presence felt.
It sounded loud and it sounded proud and it was a reminder as to what this game means to people. The game itself was not what you would call a classic. The opponent was just like most other Tony Pulis managed teams that I have had the “pleasure” of watching over the years. It’s a sound principle that Pulis offers, to be fair, and it has achieved success for most of the clubs he has managed over the years to a greater or lesser extent.
Based on a sound defensive principle, the idea against Norwich was to keep it tight and look for counter attacks. If they could get a goal then it would be a case of “come and break us down, if you can” with a limited further attacking intent.
As it turned out, that is exactly the way this game panned out. Norwich dominated the ball, as is our way, and huffed and puffed in front of a stern Owls’ defensive outfit. The Wednesday goal, when it came, was a cracking cross from Adam Reach that was headed home by Josh Windass who just got ahead of Ben Gibson.
It was a sucker punch.
The cross from Reach was delicious and had “goal” written all over it. It was an in-swinger and the sort of ball that strikers love and defenders hate. Fair play.
After that, Pulis, sensing a first Owls’ victory under his tutelage, closed up shop, only showing any attacking intent after his side had gone behind and he would’ve got away with it too, if it wasn’t for those pesky kids.
Huffing and puffing, it didn’t look like it was going to happen until Super Mario Vrancic showed yet again what a play maker he can be at this level. Josh Martin, on for the ineffective Marco Stiepermann, was the beneficiary of Mario’s vision as he poked home his first senior goal for the club to equalise.
It was the 81st minute and just three minutes later and Mario was at it again as he played a back-heel one/two with Max Aarons, giving Max just the right paced ball back so that all he had to think about was smashing the ball across the keeper into the net. It was Max’s first goal for two years and like Martin, the young City player had that wily senior player, Mario Vrancic to thank.
Since his last-minute free-kick against Sheffield Wednesday in 2018/19, Norwich City have scored eight Championship goals at Carrow Road when Mario Vrancic has been on the pitch.
Vrancic has either scored or assisted all eight of them #ncfc 🔰 🇧🇦
— NCFC Numbers (@ncfcnumbers) December 5, 2020
Mario hobbled off at the end, holding the back of his leg with Farke and me, hoping it was just cramp.
Pulis desperately threw on Elias Kachunga and Izzy Brown but it was too late and Norwich went back to the top of the league.
Winning games while not playing too well and under these incredible injury circumstances is a credit to the players and their coaches. The return of the likes of Krul, Byram, Cantwell, Idah, Quintilla, Hernandez, Dowell, Hugill et al, will be a huge shot in the arm for the squad and particularly the return of Dowell, Byram, Hernandez and Cantwell will feel like four new players come January.
The schedule is unrelenting and a visit from Nottingham Forest in mid-week will provide another chance for another 2,000 fans to see live football, this time under the lights which is always a special event, at least to me.
Would Norwich have got over the line against Wednesday without fans? It’s debatable but I think not. They were loud and played their part, squeezing the last drops of determination and effort from the tired City players. Thank you to the 2,000.
OTBC