Norwich City faced fellow Premier League side West Brom tonight in the Capital One cup and saw off Tony Pulis’ side with an impressive 3-0 win. There were a number of dazzling displays and in this article I will be going through my rating out of 10 for each player for the match and why I think so.
Declan Rudd – 7.
Rudd managed to keep Norwich’s first clean sheet of the season and made one fantastic save late in the second half, tipping a shot bound for the top corner, around the post. I would have rated him higher, however, his kicking wasn’t great and looked unsure about his decision on when to make a pass.
Andre Wisdom – 6.
Wisdom didn’t have much to do in the match and when he did, he did it adequately. Most of his play was short passes to E.Bennett and R.Bennett as West Brom didn’t really run at Wisdom many times during the match.
Ryan Bennett – 9.
Bassong was given man of the match, however, I think Ryan Bennett was the better of the two on the night. He impressed me massively. He was dominant in the air, won every header and was composed on the ball. I don’t recall him losing out on a single header. His highlight of the game was a stunning tackle when a West Brom player was running through one-on-one with Rudd and Bennett came in from the side and won the ball brilliantly.
Sebastian Bassong – 8.
Bassong was given man of the match and was superb at the back alongside Bennett, the two of them seemed to have a very good partnership, something Alex Neil might want to take notice of. He, like Bennett, won most of his aerial duels and snuffed out West Brom attacks. Another solid performance from Bassong.
Martin Olsson – 6.
Same for Olsson as was for Wisdom, West Brom didn’t threaten much down the flanks and therefore, neither of them had much defending to do. His game mostly consisted of playing short passes to Bassong and Jarvis. It was good for him to get 90 minutes after returning from injury.
Elliot Bennett – 6.
Bennett didn’t really do too much in the game, most of the play was situated through the centre or on the left, leaving Bennett to drift into the middle often, however, he still wasn’t able to get on the ball.
Graham Dorrans – 7.
Dorrans was subbed off at half time but the 45 minutes that he did play was very impressive, he controlled the entire match for Norwich and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had the most touches in the first half, he was picking out passes all over the pitch and was subbed in mind of Saturday I imagine.
Gary O’Neil – 7.
Gary O’Neil was given the captaincy tonight and put in a very assured performance in the middle of the park for Norwich. His first touch and his passes were crisp and concise and played a vital part in the win, including a lovely outside the foot through ball to set up Lafferty for his goal.
Matt Jarvis – 9.
Matt Jarvis was my man of the match. The on-loan West Ham player can’t play on Saturday as we play his parent club and it is a shame as he was in inspired form tonight. He had the beating of Gamboa and his end product was generally quality. His goal was very well taken on his weaker foot and he had a brilliant game.
Lewis Grabban – 5.
Lewis Grabban again, didn’t impress me. Some people really rate him and Alex Neil clearly does too. I just do not rate him, I don’t think he is as good as the rest of the team, he dropped too deep for the ball and gave it away cheaply a few times before being subbed off.
Dieumerci Mbokani – 7.
Mbokani made his full debut tonight and other than his bad miss at the end, had a very good game. I thought that his first touch and hold-up play was superb and created a few good shooting opportunities, but was unable to find the target. He set up Matt Jarvis for his goal as well, but will be disappointed he didn’t score late on when he fired over from the angle of the 6-yard box.
Substitutes:
Jonny Howson – 7.
Jonny Howson came on at half-time and really pushed Norwich on in the second half, driving with the ball and creating good play. He played some good passes and won the ball back for Norwich in good positions and rounded the performance off by ‘assisting’ the own-goal at the end.
Wes Hoolahan – 6.
Wes came off the bench but didn’t do too much with the ball. His only major contribution was playing in Howson before he fired the ball across for the West Brom defender to score an own-goal. Wes did pick up some good positions but didn’t create too many other chances.
Kyle Lafferty – 8.
Lafferty came on with not long left and really made his mark. He has a point to prove at Norwich and tonight has really helped him on his way. I thought he was excellent after coming on, he worked really hard and his goal was superb, out pacing the defence to fire home into the bottom corner. He was also the player putting the West Brom defender under pressure when they scored an own-goal. He has really staked a claim for Saturday’s game.
Do you agree with these ratings? comment down bellow
