Georginio Wijnaldum scored four as Norwich suffered a humiliating 6-2 defeat at St James’ Park. Wijnaldum took advantage of an embarrassing showing by the Norwich defence to give Alex Neil only his second away defeat as Norwich City Manager. Norwich hit back through Dieumerci Mbokani and Nathan Redmond but it wasn’t enough, as Newcastle romped to their first win of the season in what became a goal fest.
Norwich went into the game hoping to bounce back from a disappointing defeat to Leicester City before the international break, which saw many Canaries impress for the respective national sides. They also looked to put more pressure on Newcastle manager Steve McClaren, who had failed to pick up a win as the Magpies boss before this weekend.
Newcastle started the game strongly, having most of the possession before Wijnaldum slotted home to give Newcastle the lead. The Dutch international’s goal was the first of a numerous list of mistakes made by the Norwich defence throughout the game, whose lacklustre play lead to Wijnaldum being free in the box.
Norwich started strongly after conceding, with Robbie Brady only denied by the post with a powerful long-range effort. Norwich’s pressure was rewarded after Mbokani tapped in Martin Olsson’s cross to level the match up. It was a fantastically worked goal, with Brady holding up play to wait for Olsson on the overlap before he hit a perfect cross for Mbokani to convert.
The lead lasted only six minutes when the impressive Sissoko crossed into Wijnaldum who headed Newcastle back into the lead again. Ayoze Perez added a third shortly after, leaving Norwich looking at a two-goal deficit.
Norwich were quick to react, with Nathan Redmond left unmarked on the far post he slotted in Norwich’s second of the afternoon, giving the Canaries hope of equalising the match.
The second half started with a bang for Norwich, with the Canaries showing confidence and quality that was very much absent from the first half performance. Sebastian Bassong was unlucky to have his header cleared off the line and it looked like a Norwich goal was coming. However, a Newcastle counter-attack saw Aleksandar Mitrović grab Newcastle’s fourth and basically wrap all three points up for the Magpies.
Moussa Sissoko was the influential figure again, playing a one-two with Perez before lofting it to Mitrovic, who finished off the move. Wijnaldum grabbed the fifth, with a controversial header after two Newcastle players in a seemingly offside position.
Norwich showed some fight, with Nathan Redmond hitting the post, but Wijnaldum completed the rout in the 86th minute with a stunning strike.
The defeat leaves Alex Neil with a lot to think about, with a lot of fans questioning the defensive performance of the back four. All eyes move on to West Brom next week, which looks even more important after the performance today.
