Norwich City were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this afternoon in a game which Norwich had a fair amount of chances, however, Norwich were less than clinical. Chelsea, on the other hand, took one of their many chances, and it was enough to give them all three points.
Before the match, both teams paid their respects as the French national anthem was played at the ground, to remember those in the Paris attacks last week. As a mark of respect, all players wore black armbands.
Youssouf Mulumbu and Dieumerci Mbokani were brought into the starting eleven today, fresh from their duties with the DR Congo side. Alex Tettey was dropped after picking up an injury while with Norway, whereas Russell Martin did not make his return to the side, with the defender not appearing in the matchday squad.
In the early stages of the match, it was evident that Chelsea were up for this more than Norwich as they had much more chances and looked much more alert. Norwich were consent to sit back and defend, and wait for the right time to counter. However, unlike the game at Swansea last week, this didn’t really work, with Chelsea really showing the quality players in their side.
John Ruddy has been criticised recently but City’s No.1 made some terrific stops to deny Costa and Willian a first-half goal for Chelsea.
Norwich’s first chance of the match came to Nathan Redmond, but his low shot was saved low by Begovic. Later, Brady fed the ball to Mbokani on the edge of the box, but his shot went over.
City had a penalty claim after Brady went down in the box, but referee Craig Pawson dismissed the appeal. Chelsea also had a penalty shout disapproved, when Costa fell over in the box. Surprisingly, it was not given, given the Spanish international’s reputation.
It finished 0-0 after 45 minutes, with Norwich holding on, and Chelsea lacking the cutting edge to get themselves ahead in the game.
In the second half, it was again Chelsea creating all the chances, and putting the Norwich backline under increased pressure. Willian saw his early free-kick saved by Ruddy and Kurt Zouma saw his volley from a corner fly over the bar. Chelsea were controlling the game, but still lacked that cutting edge.
Again in the second half, Ruddy was forced to make some crucial saves as City looked to block Chelsea from scoring.
However, a quick free-kick was taken by Willian and Fabregas played through Diego Costa who eased past Ryan Bennett and finished beyond John Ruddy, making the score 1-0.
Norwich then looked to level the game, but failed to really trouble the Chelsea defence. Norwich made a triple substitution in the second period: Jerome, Hoolahan and Dorrans were all called into action.
In the last few minutes of the game, City couldn’t break down Chelsea, as the hosts had a late chance with Nemanja Matic but his shot was saved by Ruddy.
It the finished Chelsea 1-0 Norwich City, with Chelsea recording an overdue win.
Norwich’s next game is against Arsenal at Carrow Road on Sunday 29th November, which is live on Sky Sports.
