Another home match; another disappointing performance. A 1-1 draw against a young Leeds side is hard to take, especially when coupled with another display in which Norwich lacked the cutting edge to break the opposition down. Not possessing or implementing a plan B cost City dear – continuous attempts at wing play didn’t work, yet nothing else was attempted.
The first half was the now-typical Norwich first half. A few chances, but failing to properly utilise the pace of Josh Murphy and Nathan Redmond on the wings meant that City never truly tested the Leeds defence. It seemed that Norwich were not at the levels of confidence that they were in the first few games. Leeds ‘keeper Marco Silvestri looked dodgy at times when put under pressure, but the lack of urgency from the Yellows was worrying. One controversial incident occurred when an alleged racist remark was made to Cameron Jerome by Leeds centre back Giuseppe Bellusci, with referee Mark Clattenburg calling both players and both sets of coaching staff to the touch line before a lengthy discussion.
Finally, for the first time in six games, Norwich actually took the lead in a match via the most unlikely source – a corner. We’ve been notoriously poor from set pieces for a few years now, yet Redmond’s delivery was perfect for the head of Russell Martin to nod into the Leeds net from ten yards. Much-needed the lead may have been, it didn’t last long. With Norwich still devoid of confidence, Adryan danced around three challenges down the City right before playing the ball into Souleymane Doukara who finished with aplomb to slot the ball into the corner of Ruddy’s net. The atmosphere turned stagnant; Norwich fans weren’t sure how to react, so subsequently stayed quiet. Throughout the game, it had been clear the City supporters were nervous; even the Barclay wasn’t its usual raucous self. In comparison, the Leeds fans were excellent (apart from allegedly setting fire to the away section of the ground). Claims for a stonewall penalty for handball towards the end of the match were waved away by Clattenburg, but the reaction of 26,000 Norwich fans and 11 players told the story: it should have been given.
The result saw Norwich drop to 5th, some way away from top, where City sat just four days ago. This blip in form needs to be just that – a minor blip. The sooner the players get over it, the better. If not, we could be looking at an alarming slide down the table away from those prized promotion places. Evidentially, judging by the quality in the squad, that seems unlikely. One positive is that we haven’t truly seen Norwich at their best yet. There’s plenty more to come for us City fans and the potential for this side to do something special is limitless – they just need to click.
Next up is a visit to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday with a win most certainly the order of the day for Norwich. We’re not desperate just yet, but we’re near.
