I’m not quite sure how to put into words what I witnessed at Carrow Road this afternoon. But I will give it my best shot or this would be a very short match report.
To explain to anyone who didn’t watch the game why there were ten goals, both teams looked threatening on the attack and, even more noticeable was that the concept of defending was completely absent.
Norwich fans went into the game with a new level of excitement, as it was revealed new signings Ivo Pinto and Steven Naismith would make their debuts while Timm Klose had to settle for the bench.
The game started as it meant to go on, with both teams playing with a high tempo and defending horrifically. The home side started the brighter and had the majority of the momentum for the first half. It took, surprise surprise, a poor defensive error for Jurgen Klopp’s side to gain the lead in the 18th minute.
The ‘lack of communication’ that Naismith cited in his post-match interview was evident as Robbie Brady missed the memo on the Norwich defence playing the offside trap as he played Firmino onside.
However, Norwich soon drew level thanks to a moment of superb innovation from Mbokani as his back-heel flew past Mignolet before you could say ‘five-year contract’. Things went from bad to worse for the big Belgian as some beautiful passing from Naismith and Hoolahan saw the Scot free inside the Liverpool box. Despite the tight angle, the debutant fired it into the bottom corner for a perfect start to life in yellow.
The message at half time from Alex Neil was more of the same, and up until the hour mark, it was. Another great move from the new-boy from Everton led to Hoolahan making it 3-1 from the penalty spot. But before Norwich fans could even sit back down the two goal margin was wiped off by Henderson, who ran into the box completely unnoticed and neatly slotted the cross into the bottom corner.
It went from bad to worse for City as their defence again failed to deal with Firmino’s movement and the Brazilian capitalised on Rudd’s complacency and slipped the ball past the young keeper to make it 3-3.
At this moment, Russell Martin decided he had been playing far too well and gave James Milner the perfect gift as his attempted back pass turned into a perfect through ball and the England midfielder calmly went around Rudd and place Liverpool in the lead.
Then it started to get interesting.
Deep into injury time, Bassong somehow learned how to crisply strike the ball into the bottom corner which was met with as much disbelief as joy by the home crowd. But for the second time in the match, elation turned to heartbreak before the crowd had time to catch its breath.
Despite Bassong’s excellent strike moments before, the Norwich defence still looked like rabbits in the headlights when Liverpool went on the attack. The physical presence of Benteke proved enough of a distraction for Brady and Bassong to fail to clear the ball, and Lallana cleverly bounced it into the net. Heartbreak.
Norwich’s hearts were smashed like Klopp’s glasses, as the Liverpool squad celebrated in front of the Norwich dugout to rub salt into the wounds.
And that was how the craziest game at Carrow Road for decades came to an end. As the dust settles, there will be positives to take for Alex Neil. But for now, it was the same old story as defensive errors cost Norwich points again as they slip closer to the relegation zone.
