- McLean’s 25-yard free-kick doubled Norwich’s lead in their 2-0 win over Preston.
- Centre-backs Darling and Cordoba formed a decoy wall, splitting to create a gap.
- The routine was rehearsed on the training ground ahead of Saturday’s match.
Kenny McLean scored his first free-kick goal for City in yesterday’s 2-0 Championship win over Preston North End, and revealed afterwards that the 39th-minute strike was no accident.
Norwich’s captain said that centre-backs Harry Darling and Jose Cordoba formed a decoy wall in front of Preston’s defensive line, then split in opposite directions as he began his run-up, opening the gap. He then proceeded to bend a left-footed shot through and into the top right corner.
The routine, McLean confirmed, was lifted straight from Colney. The movement of the two defenders was designed to block goalkeeper Daniel Iversen’s sightline at the crucial moment and force Preston’s wall to readjust just as the ball left Kenny’s boot. From 25 yards, the execution was perfect.
A comfortable first half at Carrow Road
McLean’s goal doubled a lead Ali Ahmed had established in the 18th minute, tapping home after Iversen parried a Mathias Kvistgaarden effort. City could have had more before the break, too, with Liam Gibbs hitting the crossbar and Kvistgaarden seeing a header cleared off the line by Jordan Storey.
The second half was scrappier (and uglier). Preston created chances of their own, Andrew Hughes missing a free header and Vladan Kovacevic making late saves to deny Robbie Brady and Daniel Jebbison. But City held out for a fourth straight league win and their ninth in 11 Championship games.
Clement highlights turnaround in form
Philippe Clement was satisfied with the first-half display but acknowledged the contest changed after the interval.
“We played a good first half with two good goals,” he said. “We had a few other really good actions where we could have scored. The second half was more scrappy because of the way that Preston pressed and played one against one with a lot of duels.”
Clement accepted that shrewd game management was required to close the game out.
“You can’t play sexy football all the time,” he said. “Sometimes you need to find the solution to win a match, to fight for the result. So it was good to get through the second half with a clean sheet and come away with the three points.”
He also pointed to the bigger picture. “We had nine points after 15 games, and in the next 22 we have taken 42 points,” Clement said. “That’s an amazing number.”
Norwich sit 12th on 51 points, a remarkable position given that they were in the relegation zone as recently as mid-January.
