Well, that was disappointing, wasn’t it?!
I had doubts about the trip to Luton, mostly based on a rivalry with a Hatters supporting mate of mine and doubled by our injury crisis. Luton had 1,000 fans inside Kenilworth Road and despite their small numbers they made their presence felt. Placheta was a noticeable target of the crowd after he was brought down for the City penalty but even so, it’s good to have fans back.
The return of Teemu Pukki cannot come quick enough, can it? We have been devoid of a central striking threat in the last two games and even though Emi Buendia returned, we just didn’t have enough going forwards against Luton. When you add to that, our previously reliable back line (can’t believe I just wrote that) were breached three times from set pieces and it just wasn’t going to be our night.
Placheta was a constant threat with his pace on the counter, especially in the first half and it was the flying Pole who was fouled for Buendia to score the equaliser from the penalty spot. Speaking of Emi, he was, as usual, our most threatening forward player but Luton deserve plenty of credit for the way that they defended, especially once they had managed to get into a two goal lead in the second half. That third Hatters goal, the penalty, was a real blink and you’ll miss it moment on the Sky Sports red button. A handball by Grant Hanley after he fell over? That’s what the commentator said.
Either way, the Referee gave it and McGovern was given no chance from the spot. The City stand-in keeper had a game in which he didn’t inspire a lot of confidence, especially with the ball at his feet and he dropped the ball (again) from a fairly standard take, once too. Any team in this league would miss Tim Krul but we really are missing him.
Josh Martin had a quiet game and Stiepermann was virtually a passenger. He barely did anything and Farke, as is his way, didn’t bring on young Tyrese Omotoye until the 85th minute. He probably had cramp but replacing Buendia with Zimmermann was strange too when we’re chasing the game. I’d rather get one of those other young lads on earlier and let some youthful exuberance have a run out, wouldn’t you?
In the end, Norwich were clearly second best to Luton, who were coming off the back off a 4-0 humbling by Cardiff at the weekend. They were up for it and Norwich looked tired and short of a goal threat. In the coming weeks, with a few influential players returning, City can hopefully kick on and start to perform like we all know they are capable of but just haven’t seen much, yet.
To end on a positive note, we’re still top of the league and Pukki should be back on Saturday, when there will be 2,000 mad Canaries cheering the lads on.
OTBC