Norwich City got their second win and third clean sheet in a week as they defeated Sheffield United 0-1 on Saturday at Bramall Lane in a rather fractious game.
Daniel Farke made three changes to the side that drew with Burton in mid-week as Mario Vrancic and Wes Hoolahan dropped down to the bench in favour of Yanic Wildschut and James Maddison, with Cameron Jerome replacing the injured Nelson Oliveira.
Sticking with the 4-2-3-1 formation that has suddenly shored things up, the side looked much more balanced with Yanic (right) and Murphy (left) flanking Maddison. The direct play that Yanic showed against Burton when he came on had clearly impressed Farke, as it did me, and it gave us another direct, pacey outlet other than just Josh Murphy.
The first half was notable for three real incidents. The first saw David Brooks nutmeg Timm Klose centrally, before driving on, one on one and forcing a decent save from Angus Gunn. The second was when James Maddison played in Yanic on the overlap and he fired a first time, low shot into the bottom corner, across the keeper.
That was mid-way through the half and gave City a great platform for the rest of the game. His celebration was one of unbridled joy as he danced around after scoring his first goal of the season.
City had to work hard and dig in to keep out the Blades, who seemed to overplay the ball sometimes but in time added on at the end of the half, Freeman went down under close attention from Maddison in the City box and the Canary faithful held their breath before referee, Mr Duncan waved play on.
The half time break was timely and City used it to their full advantage, making Sheffield United wait for them before they could start the second half – something else that upset Blades` boss Chris Wilder about the afternoon.
Angus Gunn became the target of the home fans` ire in as the half wore on as the clock ran down for perceived time wasting, just like Burton`s Stephen Bywater did at Carrow Road last Tuesday night.
Then just after the hour mark, Chris Wilder was sent to the stands for a strange incident in which he entered the City technical area to retrieve the ball, which he then thumped down the line for Maddison to take a throw in. Wilder had lost his cool over the “game management” being shown by Norwich and moved to a position just behind the home dug-out – about ten feet further back than he had been.
As the clock ran down further, at least two bottles were thrown onto the pitch at Angus Gunn from the Kop behind him and tempers were fraying as the atmosphere became hostile and Mr Duncan lost control of the game. John Fleck took out Wildschut and then Murphy`s replacement, James Husband went down under a challenge from Chris Basham in the Sheffield area but the ref waved play on.
With little time left to play, Duncan missed a stone wall penalty when Maddison got to the ball before keeper, Blackman and was brought down but again nothing was given. Maddison suffered a foot injury as a result that Farke later said was bleeding and he had to be subbed off. Mr Duncan flashed a yellow card at him for more time wasting as he hobbled off.
Duncan`s final act of craziness was to add on 6 minutes of time which turned into more than that, nearer 8 minutes but City hung on to claim a very good three points.
FT 0-1
The new found defensive steel is pleasing to see and has been missed from Norwich City`s locker for several years now but I`m liking what I am seeing from the back four. There is no doubt that the defensive shield of Tettey and Trybull (who looks a real player) are important in this but all the back four, especially Marco Stiepermann, who was almost targeted by the Blades, deserve credit.
Three clean sheets and two wins in a week have got Daniel Farke`s men back on track and let`s hope we can push on from here. It`s notable that yet again we have won after conceding the Lion`s share of possession to the opposition with a team that the Head Coach is quoted as saying he wants to be “the protagonists with the ball.”
A changing of ideas? An ability to use a Plan C is what it looks like to me, rather than just stubbornly bludgeoning ahead with a failing system. Farke is clearly an intelligent man and I`m sure we will come back to the possession based game at times but here, to play on the counter, his new plan worked a treat.
OTBC
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