Over 2000 Norwich fans made the journey west as City travelled to Birmingham for a mid-table encounter. With last week’s disappointing defeat to Brentford in mind, a win would be very much beneficial – anything less and the gap between us and the play-offs could potentially widen. Alex Neil opted for a much changed City side; Bennett in for Lafferty, Hoolahan for Hooper, Tettey for Cuellar, Grabban for Jerome and the return of a certain Sebastian Bassong at the back.
The match which played out was a frustrating one, and lacked as a spectacle too. Norwich dominated possession all game (65%) but often failed to convert that into anything meaningful, or capable of penetrating the Birmingham defence. Hoolahan tried his hardest behind Grabban to play some of the more intuitive passes, but was regularly crowded or muscled out. Olsson effectively offered width for Elliott Bennett who gradually grew into the game, but with only one striker in the box, he had little to aim for. On the opposite wing ex-Birmingham player Redmond struggled and often found himself going sideways or backwards, as the left back and left midfielder would try to double up on him. He came closest to opening the scoring, stinging the hands of Birmingham ‘keeper Randolph but despite the movement once airborne, the shot was too central. The game itself offered very little to get excited about, and chances were few and far between.
Donaldson threatened the new partnership of Bassong and Martin, with the latter looking the shakiest of the two. A long ball over the top was misjudged by Bassong but Donaldson failed to make a significant connection on the ball – a poke either side of Ruddy and the hosts would have been one up. On a different occasion a shot was fired in from distance, which Ruddy briefly dropped, only to claim it at the second attempt; hearts were in mouths for a moment. The same occurred when Birmingham broke and pressurised City’s defence, and he ball appeared to ricochet off the raised arm of Bassong, and considering City have conceded 7 this season, many expected another to be on its way. Fortunately, and perhaps luckily, the referee denied the Birmingham claims.
City’s best move came in the first half as Redmond raced down the right wing, lifting the ball into the box where Grabban waited. It found the previously out-of-favour striker, but arrived in the void between heading height and shooting height. An improvised volley was all he could muster and the ball sailed over the bar – an acrobatic effort was probably necessary to generate the downwards force on the ball.
No goals at half time, just a yellow card for Alex Tettey.
The second period began with a little more fire, but an equal lack of quality. Birmingham continued to persevere with the direct route one attitude that they had adopted in the first half. Neither side could find the breakthrough.
Demarai Gray (a player Norwich had been linked with) came closest early on with an outstanding individual run which had the City back four shell-shocked. A wonderful save by Ruddy denied the winger a superb goal.
Alex Neil introduced Cameron Jerome who also used to play for Birmingham, as well as Murphy and Hooper later on. Question marks had been placed on the original team, but these substitutions did nothing to rectify it. A small period of dominance nearly brought about the all-important goal; a corner delivered in by Redmond and met by Martin, was headed off the Birmingham line. Martin also missed a volley which he blazed over, after receiving the ball in acres of space. No composure. Tettey’s strike from distance was on target but easily gathered, and was testament to the fact Norwich hadn’t managed to create clear-cut chances, instead limited to shots from range.
Birmingham substitute Žigić who towers over everyone else at 6″9 headed a long ball down for Birmingham’s best chance in the dying moments of the match, but the opportunity was thankfully wasted.
The sides were made to settle for a point each, which was probably fair given the course of events. Norwich had failed to capitalise on what was an uninspiring performance from the hosts, very much reflecting the current ineptitude of the side. The Canaries remain 8th, but it feels like two points dropped rather than one point gained – Birmingham were there for the taking.
Ruddy: 8
Whittaker: 7
Martin: 6
Bassong: 6
Olsson: 7
Redmond: 5
Johnson: 6
Tettey: 6
Bennett: 6
Hoolahan: 6
Grabban: 5
Leave your player ratings here!
