It was a case of ‘what if’ as Birmingham City once again helped our cause with a spirited draw against Sheff Utd. But for all the talk about their ‘lowly’ status Reading came to Carrow Road and did a job on us.
They were well-drilled, tenacious, spirited and never gave up and although I can hardly suggest they deserved the point I don’t feel we did enough to deserve the win.
Despite all our possession it never looked like it was going to be our night. When a rebound ricocheted off Stiepermann and out for a goal kick for the third time it was clearly not going to be our night. When Emiliano Martinez leapt, gazelle-like, across the goal to save another attempt it was clearly not going to be our night. When they announced that Buendia’s spot was going to be taken by Todd Cantwell…..
I felt a little like tonight a few of our players got found out. Why, despite the stats suggesting Kenny McLean is one of our best players did every supporter want him replaced ASAP? How many times did he get his corners past the first man? He finally managed it in the 88 minute and Zimbo popped up and scored. Maybe if he had done that from the start.
I’m writing this at 11pm. I am a little frustrated. I shouldn’t be. We’ve 6 points on Leeds in 2nd….but it really does feel a little tough to take after seeing us dismantle QPR and struggle to provide Pukki with even one decent chance. Hopefully this is just a tiny little blip and all will be right at Wigan. Hopefully the stat that says we haven’t won without Buendia is just a stat waiting to be broken.
Carrow Road
Sky Bet Championship
10/04/2019 8:45 pm
Attendance: 26662
Referee: Keith Stroud
| Norwich | Reading | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godfrey 86', Zimmerman 88' | Meite 30', Rinomhota 97' | ||||||
| Krul | Martinez | ||||||
| Aarons | Gunter | 94' | |||||
| Zimmerman | Yiadom | ||||||
| Godfey | Miazga | ||||||
| Lewis | 81' | Moore | |||||
| McLean | Blackett | ||||||
| Trybull | Rinomhota | ||||||
| Cantwell | 70' | Baker | 94' | ||||
| Stiepermann | Ejaria | ||||||
| Hernández | Barrow | 77' | |||||
| Pukki | 90' | Meite | |||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Leitner | Baldock | 94' | |||||
| Rhodes | 70' | McCleary | 97' | ||||
| Klose | 90' | Harriott | |||||
| Hanley | Walker | ||||||
| Srbeny | Barrett | ||||||
| McGovern | Loader | 94' | |||||
| Vrancic | 81' | McIntyre | |||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 23 | Goal attempts | 5 |
| 7 | On Target | 2 |
| 13 | Corners | 2 |
| 6 | Fouls | 17 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 74 | % | 26 |