MIND THE GAP
Light at centre-half, still an issue at left-back and now they look as vulnerable as Pep’s first season after...
ONCE, when Norwich played a very different i ncarnation of Manchester City 15 years ago, Delia Smith famously strolled on to the pitch and exhorted a quiet Carrow Road to liven up. ‘Let’s be having you’ has since become almost as familiar a battle cry since then as ‘On the ball City’.
Well, last night they had no need for their celebrity chef to exhort them. This fine stadium fairly shook as it roared every defiant defensive block and each carefully constructed counter-attack. In an excruciating four minutes of added time, Tim Krul had to make three saves. Each time, his safe hands were greeted with a din loud enough to be heard down in Suffolk.
This extraordinary team and fans were as one, sweeping up one of the finest sides ever constructed in the Premier League era with their enthusiasm and a superbly executed tactical plan.
With three minutes of normal time remaining, Rodri had struck to bring the score back to 3-2. The die seemed cast. The victory would surely now be denied them. And yet they clung on.
Has there ever been a performance like this at Carrow Road in the Premier League era? You would be reaching back to the famous 1992-93 team that finished third for comparisons. Not since Bayern Munich were dumped out of the UEFA Cup the following season have Norwich slain so mighty a giant.
Of course, they dazzled at times last season to win the Championship. But not against sides of this quality. Manchester City may well be the best team in the world. They are certainly the best the Premier League has seen in some time.
And yet here, against a team patched up with reserves and c o nst r uct e d f o r £ 6 . 4 5 mill i o n, Manchester City looked utterly lost. It was as though the trip out to East Anglia had lured them out of their comfort zone.
They can accumulate 100 points or near to and yet they have survived the past two seasons without ever t ruly fi l l i ng t he left-back position. Here it showed, Oleksandr Zinchenko repeatedly exposed. And for a side whose critics would suggest can sign the best players at will, whatever the cost, they look shockingly light at centre-half following the injury to Aymeric Laporte and the departure of Vincent Kompany.
Norwich were outstanding. There were too many heroes to name but Emiliano Buendia, Todd Cantwell and Marco Stiepermann put in shifts that will long be fondly recalled here.
The orchestrator, Daniel Farke, led the crowd at the end. He will not appreciate the comparison as he is very much his own man, but the charisma he exudes and the intelligence of his football makes him Jurgen Klopp in the making.
The opening half was pretty much t he definiti ve masterclass in playing against City. Norwich, drawing deep on reserves, played a classic rope-a-dope as well as you can. With two lines of four players sitting deep and staying narrow, they were as disciplined as you will see a team this season. Their one purpose was to stop City, somehow, anyhow.
The Premier League champions had 69 per cent possession in the opening half but for the first 23 minutes of that period they had gleaned just two corners and no clear goalscoring chances.
Those little gaps City are so adept at finding? Here there were none. Those wide areas they exploit so well? Even without Max Aarons Norwich would not allow it, largely because their wide midfielders in Buendia and Cantwell worked so hard at supporting the full-backs.
It was extraordinary to watch, though you feared for Norwich. This level of commitment could not last, surely? Yet then came the twist in the plan.
In the 18th minute, they enjoyed a rare attack. Nothing too threatening, but a corner was won. For this plan to work, your set-pieces have to be perfect. And you will not see a better corner t han Buendia’s, whipped into the near post. Kenny McLean made a run across the City defender and glanced his header into the top corner.
City looked stunned. Yet still there was little r e s ponse. Raheem Sterling broke free in the 28th minute. This looked more like City as he dinked a ball into Sergio Aguero. But the Argentine headed over and Norwich fans roared.
More t h r i l l i n g l y, from the goal-kick they found themselves on the attack again. City’s midfield and full-backs seemed bewildered. Should they press high and stay on the front foot or get back and