Tuesday nights under the floodlights at Carrow Road epitomises the exhilaration of the Football League. Goals, entertainment and – hopefully – the possibility of a Norwich win. Unfortunately, the first fifteen minutes didn’t go too well.
It took just forty-one seconds for Tom Cairney to open the scoring with a wonderful strike from the edge of the area, firing Rovers into a 1-0 before some fans had even entered the ground. The City defence was a shambles for the next fifteen minutes: men left unmarked at set pieces; giving away free headers in the penalty area and misplaced passes galore provoked memories of last season. However, the crowd backed them and roared them on, before the Canaries turned the game around and dominated the rest of the half.
It didn’t take too long for the City faithful to be rewarded, as some good work down the Norwich left from Hoolahan resulted in the referee claiming that Grant Hanley blocked Hoolahan’s cross with his arm. It looked dubious, as Hanley’s arm was by his side, but it may have moved towards the ball. Lewis Grabban stepped up: saved. Paul Robinson went the right way, but could only parry towards the onrushing Grabban who bundled in from six-yards. It was nothing short of what Norwich had deserved after working hard and putting Blackburn under a lot of pressure.
The second half was slightly more balanced, but Blackburn never threatened John Ruddy’s goal until the final minutes, at which point they were 2-1 down thanks to a beautifully-weighted dink from the left foot of Bradley Johnson on eighty-six minutes. He’s clearly worked on improving his shooting and he’s reaping the rewards now, picking up two goals in two games. Before that, Ryan Bennett had a powerful header shake the crossbar, whilst Grabban was denied by a fantastic save from Paul Robinson.
As Blackburn then threw men forwards desperately to try and find the equaliser, Steven Whittaker completely sliced a pass back to Ruddy and saw the ball go behind for a Blackburn corner. The ball was whipped in dangerously, met by a Blackburn head, but an outstretched arm of Ruddy denied Rovers the equaliser. The pressure mounted. Another corner to Blackburn. This time, goalkeeper Paul Robinson came lumbering up into the Norwich area, but this time the corner is too close to Ruddy and he gratefully clutches the ball as the City fans roar their approval – but, also, to tell Ruddy to get the ball upfield as Josh Murphy is through on an open goal. It took him a few seconds to realise, but when he did, Ruddy released an inch-perfect throw, finding Murphy on the right wing. Murphy beat his man, galloping away towards the Blackburn goal with one defender standing on the line. Robinson chased back, but Murphy beat him too, before laying it off to Grabban who slotted it home after having his first attempt blocked.
Alex Tettey and Bradley Johnson offered a solid defence base in central midfield with the capability to spread the play from wing to wing whilst also stopping Blackburn attacks and allowing Hoolahan to roam around the pitch. The front four of Nathan Redmond, Hoolahan, Kyle Lafferty and Lewis Grabban worked extremely hard all night – Lafferty in particular, who pulled up with cramp at around sixty-five minutes. Redmond, despite not offering much in terms of final ball, terrorised the Blackburn defence at times and helped put pressure on to try and find the winning goal. Hoolahan drew numerous Blackburn defenders out of position just to mark him, whilst Grabban will pick up the plaudits for two good goals – although, his penalty taking could do with a bit of work. A hamstring injury to Javier Garrido – substituted at half-time – is the only cause for concern, but overall it was a very positive performance from Norwich who reacted well to conceding such an early goal.
PLAYER RATINGS John Ruddy – 8 Steven Whittaker – 6 Russell Martin – 7 Michael Turner – 7 Javier Garrido – 6 Alex Tettey – 9 Bradley Johnson – 8 Nathan Redmond – 6 Wes Hoolahan – 7 Kyle Lafferty – 7 Lewis Grabban – 8 Substitutes: Ryan Bennett (Garrido, 45′) – 7 Elliott Bennett (Lafferty, 71′) – 6 Josh Murphy (Redmond, 81′) – 7
