Norwich will be very happy with their 1-1 draw at Anfield against Liverpool. After a goalless first half, Liverpool substitute Danny Ings made it 1-0 to the Reds just after the break. Norwich responded well though, and soon they had the equalizer. Captain Russell Martin looped the ball over Mingolet following a scramble in the penalty area. John Ruddy made a few great saves, and the Canaries made off with a hard earned point.
Alex Neil: We played really well. We offered a real threat going forward and deserved something out of the game.
Alex Neil made two changes to the side that beat Bournemouth 3-1 in their last match. Steven Whittaker came back into the side for Andre Wisdom, and Graham Dorrans slotted into the team for Wes Hoolahan. The exclusion of Hoolahan was a strange decision from Neil. He was brilliant against the Cherries, and it was clear that he was needed on the pitch.
Norwich really lacked ideas in the first half. Most of the game plan was just to try long through balls from the midfield into the final third, and hope that either Jerome or Redmond could get on the end of them. There were few spells of fluid play, but not a lot of chances. Liverpool on the other hand did have some first half chances. James Milner had a chance from just outside the box in the seventeenth minute, but Robbie Brady superbly got in the way of it. Clyne and Sturridge also flashed shots wide. The teams went into the dressing rooms at 0-0.
The second half started with Christian Benteke being taken off for Danny Ings. This turned out to be a stroke of brilliance from Brendan Rodgers. Just four minutes after the restart, a mistake from Russell Martin unlocked the door. Ings was one on one with Ruddy, and slid it home into the bottom corner.
Liverpool continued to press and nearly got a second one on a couple of occasions. Norwich found the equalizer in the 61st minute from a corner. Simon Mingolet punched away the first ball, but it fell to Martin. The Scottish defender controlled the ball with his chest, and then lobbed it over Mingolet who never had a chance.
The Reds continued to press for that elusive second goal. Phillipe Coutinho was sent through with a one on one chance with ten minutes to go, but Ruddy did tremendously to deny him. Just after that he stopped Danny Ings on a clear-cut chance as well. Those key saves caused the game to finish 1-1.
This is a great point for Norwich away from home. It gives them eight points in the league so far, and puts them eleventh in the table. They will look to carry that momentum into a Capital One Cup round of 32 tie against West Brom at Carrow Road on Wednesday night.
