Millwall bore witness to the ability that current Norwich side possess, when firing on all cylinders. Of course, Millwall put in one of the worst performances seen at Carrow Road for a long while, but the way the Canaries capitalised upon their ineptitudes was impressive. However, with rivals Watford starting that game with a sizeable points gap, the victory wouldn’t suffice in moving City up the table. If they wished to return to the playoff places that they kissed goodbye to over the course of a fateful month, a victory was the least that was required today against Reading.
The hosts were one of the teams that contributed detrimentally to the Canaries’ blip, as all things yellow turned blue. The reverse fixture epitomised the problems that Adams’ city side continued to face, with the leaky, mismatched defence proving the downfall. Fans cried for Adams’ head. Hurled abuse towards McNally for not pulling the trigger. And yet, just one month down the line, City’s prospects had changed once again. A four game period including three wins and an important point away to Derby captured the jolly Christmas spirit. Surely that sort of form would be telling when they came up against Reading for the second time in five weeks?
The answer, in short, is an emphatic no. All the lessons that should have been learned last time, had been forgotten, and once again it was City’s defence that disappointed. Cuellar missed the game through an injury sustained in the Millwall victory, and in his place Ryan Bennett stepped in. Alongside Russell Martin, the pairing were in for a very difficult afternoon, made harder by their individual mistakes and collective lack of cohesion. While many fans have called for Whittaker out of the team, his goals recently have seemed to save him. Of course, if ever there’s a time to drop Whittaker, it’s not after his recent performances and goals that have helped the team to four points. However, the domino effect it has is that Martin remains at centre-back, and continues to put in inadequate performances. Today was a certain case of that.
The cracks appeared as Reading piled the pressure on a Norwich side that just hadn’t got going. The Madjeski’s playing surface was quite evidently below-par, and while City’s quick passing football may not have been accustomed to the pitch, the inability to adapt put City on the back foot. Russell Martin failed to get goal-side as a long ball fell towards his marker. Murray subsequently fired from 25 yards towards Ruddy, who blocked the shot, unconvincingly into the path of the offside Cox. Ruddy made an impressive second save but even then the striker should have scored. Luckily the flag was up anyway.
Reading otherwise didn’t really cause that much of a threat. The only real danger came from the air and set pieces, which were of course the problem last time around. A number of corners were delivered, and each time Norwich were second best to win them. Johnson was penalised when he was deemed to have wrestled Michael Hector to the floor in an attempt to head away. Robson-Kanu converted the resulting penalty, as Ruddy watched the ball trickle into the empty side of the net.
Norwich’s chances were few and far between. Jerome failed to seize an opportunity as Whittaker drilled the ball into the box, and his penalty complaints may have been to hide from the fact he should have found the target.
Things got worse when Olsson was beaten down his flank by Glenn Murray, and Steven Whittaker failed to win the header. It did appear though, that he had been pushed in the back in the build-up, so when Cox scored, it felt rather unjust. City tried their hardest to claw a goal back before half time, and while chances remained at a premium, a serving of refereeing incompetence was being dished out; left, right and centre. When Jerome raced clear and dropped to the ground James Linington waved away any complaints having already made one big decision in the game, perhaps bottling the second. A straight red card and a dangerous free kick would have been on the cards had the man in the middle seen what every other fan in the ground had witnessed.
A disastrous first half left Adams, Phelan and Holt a lot of work to do at the break. The introduction of Redmond and Hoolahan had only a limited impact as Reading came out even more eager to see out the game. Norwich’s progression was continuously halted by Linington’s appalling refereeing display, to the point where even the Reading fans joined in with cries of ‘you’re not fit to referee’. He missed at least 10 handballs in the second half, which was testament to him not being up to speed with the play. He turned a blind eye to the blatant and desperate time-wasting that quickly developed into Reading’s main game plan.
As time ticked away, so did the chance to find a way back. Howson came close with a shot that required an extra touch from someone to turn it in; agonisingly out of reach. Midfield partner Johnson later picked up on a loose ball 25 yards out and with little hesitation rifled it into the top corner.
Finally: a breakthrough.
It was goal that directly contradicted the performance he was having, despite his recent good form. However it was an absolute thumper – out of nowhere – and City fans were more than grateful. And ironically, the Reading players argued that the goal shouldn’t have stood, with Linington failing to spot the two substitutes Clark had poised to come on.
On many an occasion it has been that first goal that is the tricky one, and often the momentum is the enough to find all three points. Today however, it did little to change the pattern of the game. Pass after pass went awry, as Norwich fans grew more frustrated. The final few moments provided one last opportunity; Redmond found a way past the left back who had regularly doubled up on him since his introduction, and then slipped the ball back. Unfortunately, it was 3 inches the wrong side of Bennett, whose weight anticipated a diving header in front of him. He failed to adjust, just like Norwich had failed to adjust to Reading’s game plan despite having been undone by the same tricks just weeks ago.
