Norwich City were beaten in the most dramatic of circumstances in a frankly unbelievable game at Carrow Road on Saturday.
Norwich, having been a goal behind, found themselves 3-1 up after 54 minutes before then being 3-4 down going into injury time when Seb Bassong equalised, only to lose to a 95th minute Adam Lallana strike.
The drama and emotion in this match was incredible. There were lots of positives for Norwich but once again it was defensive frailties that cost us.
Alex Neil gave debuts to two of his new signings with Steven Naismith playing behind Mbokani and Ivo Pinto taking the right back slot, as Russell Martin partnered Seb Bassong in the centre and Robbie Brady at left back.
Howson and Dorrans were the midfield two (Alex Tettey was ill) and Redmond played on the right wing, with Hoolahan on the left. Neil`s other new signing from this week, Timm Klose was on the bench and ended up not being used.
Norwich started the better of the two sides and looked very comfortable in possession for the first 15 minutes. Naismith and Mbokani immediately looked like they had an understanding and the new man`s passing and lay-offs were impressive. Wes Hoolahan also caught the eye on the left as he fought and ran for everything – a display that Nathan Redmond would do well to have noted.
Having started so well though, it was Liverpool who opened the scoring with their first attack of the game. Roberto Firmino ran through and sort of scuffed the ball past Rudd and in off the post. It was against the run of play, although Milner was put through in similar fashion a short time later, only for Brady to clear it away with a last ditch challenge.
Norwich levelled in style in the 29th minute when Liverpool failed to clear a corner. The ball was headed back into Mbokani, who had his back to goal, by Graham Dorrans. Mbokani controlled the ball and then powerfully back heeled the ball into the net from 7 yards out, nutmegging Sakho in the process.
A resurgent Norwich then grabbed the lead with a debut goal for Naismith, who shot low and hard past Mignolet and into the far corner, from an angle on the right after great movement and a delicious pass from Wes.
At half time all was well in the Canary world as the home side went in 2-1 up. Little did we know what would unfold in the second half.
Liverpool had looked short of ideas in the first half and if I`m honest, they were poor and well below the pace of Norwich. Dorrans and Howson mostly controlled the midfield at that point and Naismith and Mbokani were working nicely together.
Norwich increased their lead on 54 minutes when Naismith was played into the area on the right. He was ‘challenged’ by Moreno and brought down, Mr Mason (eventually) pointed to the spot and Wes Hoolahan duly scored from the resulting penalty. It was at this point that I noticed that the two blokes next to me hadn`t jumped up and celebrated. One of them was looking at the floor, eating a pasty and smelt of stale beer, he spoke with a cockney accent but was moaning to his mate – Cockney Scousers in our midst! The usual bloke wasn`t there so I can only assume they had bought them as “buy backs.”
At 3-1, I thought the game was done and we would only go on to perhaps increase our lead but in any case, we would win. How wrong I was. We needed to keep things tight for ten minutes and not give the visitors a chance they didn`t have but that is exactly what we did do.
Liverpool almost scored straight from the kick off with Henderson sweeping the ball past Rudd after a pass from Firmino. It was now 3-2 and nerves set in as the City players looked jittery.
Several balls over the top were a warning that wasn`t heeded and Firmino was sent through one on one with Rudd, who he dinked the ball past, to level on 63 minutes.
We now entered a phase of the game that saw Liverpool suddenly become the dominant side. Norwich`s decision making, especially at the back, was now poor and on 75 minutes, Russell Martin played a short back pass towards Rudd that Milner seized upon – from the half way line. He didn’t even look. Rudd started to come but realised that he wouldn`t make it as Milner bore down on him. When he did get close enough to the City keeper, Milner just squeezed it past him into the net before celebrating on his own in front of the River End – his own team mates were nowhere near him as a result of the back pass. Russell Martin put his hands over his face and tilted his head upwards.
With just fifteen minutes to go, the game seemed up. So much so in fact that that the Cockney Scousers got up and left at 85 minutes, staying just long enough to use the foulest of language in the family area about how lazy Christian Benteke was.
My mate wanted to go too, just as the board for added on time was going up, but when it showed 5 minutes, I persuaded him to stay, I just had a feeling.
90+2 and Liverpool fail to deal with another set piece. The ball falls to Seb Bassong, 20 yards from goal (after a lay off from Jerome) and he smashes a low shot past Mignolet into the bottom corner. Cue rapturous joy and shouts of “WHO ARE YA” which drowned out “YOU`LL NEVER WALK ALONE.”
90+5 the joy is so short lived. Liverpool drive forwards and another series of poor decisions unfolds. Robbie Brady heads a cross back into the danger area and Adam Lallana smashes a shot into the ground, it bounces up and over Rudd, agonisingly into the top corner.
I`m done.
FT 4-5
A staggering defeat. An unbelievable game that contained five Liverpool goals that Jurgen Klopp might describe as “simple goals.” They were pretty much all avoidable and gift wrapped opportunities. As I write this now, several hours later, I almost can`t believe what I saw.
Sure, there are positives and they shouldn`t be overlooked. Naismith had an excellent debut and due to his lack of game time there will be even more to come from him, once he attains full match fitness. His link up play with Mbokani and Hoolahan was great, we actually now have an effective link between the striker and midfield. Mbokani wasn`t so isolated as he has been on other occasions and he looked all the better for it. He was a beast in the first hour and won nearly every header he contested as well as scoring a brilliantly improvised goal.
Hoolahan worked his socks off as a left winger and Nathan Redmond would do well to take note. Wes was battling, tackling, tracking back and generally putting in a shift. On the other flank, Nathan Redmond just let Moreno run for the first goal, apparently deciding yet again, that tracking back is beneath him.
Liverpool were really poor in the first hour and had the Norwich defence almost entirely to thank for allowing them to get into the game. New boy Ivo Pinto had a tough game. On Canary Call it was called a “promising debut” but I would say he was average at best. Maybe I`m being a little harsh. He`s new to the country and getting used to the Premier League`s speed and physicality can take time but this was a baptism of fire. He and Martin looked the weakest links on the right side of our defence.
Pinto looked good going forwards (nothing wrong with that) but when he did, nobody covered him and that created big gaps which Liverpool exploited. Both full backs have a tendency for gung ho charges up the field. Fair enough, but don`t both go at the same time because that is a gamble and we seem to keep taking that gamble. Is that what they are told? I don`t know.
Howson and Dorrans did ok in the centre and both put a shift in, with Dorrans` passing being a useful tool. Having said that, the physicality of Alex Tettey would`ve been useful today as well.
For all the positives though, at the back our wounds were self-inflicted. Having kept things tight for 54 minutes, the defence inexplicably started making poor decisions in their use of the ball and invited pressure on themselves. Declan Rudd didn`t have a save to make but picked the ball out of his net five times. Some fool on Canary Call suggested that we need a new keeper because Rudd didn`t make a save – I switched off after that one because Declan couldn`t have done anything about any of those five.
Alex Neil said afterwards that Russell Martin played instead of Ryan Bennett because he expected Firmino to play and not Benteke and that he was proved right. He felt that Martin was better equipped to deal with Firmino and it worked for almost two thirds of the game but then came the same old frailties. Martin`s back pass was a horrible moment and so unnecessary. He won`t need telling but it was a real sickener for us all.
That wasn`t the worst of it though, having scored an equaliser in the 92nd minute to seemingly gain one point, when we should`ve had all three, we threw it away at the death again. Ed Balls called it “a roller coaster” in a tweet after the game but if we`re using fairground terminology Ed, I`d call it the “House of horrors.”
Timm Klose was watching from the bench and must think after this that in nine days time, when we play Spurs, that he will surely start the game. Having a new £9m centre back on the bench is some sort of consolation that things can only get better at the back.
Rarely have I felt so exhausted emotionally after a game of football and today it was all for the wrong reasons.
It was absolutely heart breaking.
OTBC