McLEAN HELPS SINK CITY
English Premier
ONCE, when Norwich played a very different incarnation 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’.
Last night they had no need of their celebrity chef to exhort them. This fine stadium shook as it roared every block and each carefully constructed counter-attack. In an excruciating four minutes of added time, Tim Krul had to save three efforts. 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.
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 constructed for the price of a Manchester City full-back, they looked utterly lost. It was 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 truly filling the left-back position. Here it showed, Olekandr Zinchenko repeatedly exposed. And for a side whose critics would suggest sign the best players at will, they look light at centre-half following the injury to Aymeric Laporte and the departure of Vincent Kompany.
Norwich took the lead in the 18th minute. Emi Buendia’s corner was whipped in, Kenny McLean glancing his header into the top corner.
City looked stunned. Yet still there was little response. 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.
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 defend? They did neither and space appeared for Marco Stiepermann, who fed Teemu Pukki running into space, with Kyle Walker playing him onside. City were now in trouble, Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones dashing back. Yet Pukki had spotted the run of Todd Cantwell, rolled the ball into his feet to make it 2-0.
Just as it seemed they would make it to half-time, Pep Guardiola’s team struck. Norwich had men back yet the quality of Bernardo Silva’s cross and the movement of Aguero away from Ben Godfrey made for a simple header for 2-1.
When Pukki scuffed a decent chance wide from a tight angle in 48 minutes, you feared Norwich might regret it. But it simply was the precursor to something more extraordinary.
From the resulting goal kick, Ederson passed to Stones who pushed the ball to Otamendi. But Buendia was on his case and, before the defender could even get a touch, he had nicked the ball and squared for Pukki to tap in.
Norwich manager Daniel Farke said: ‘I can’t praise enough the spirit and mentality of my players. It’s been an unbelievably tough start, facing the reigning champions, the reigning Champions League champions, the reigning Europa League champions, and five points has been a decent start.’
Asked whether he had expected his flying start in the top flight, Pukki said: ‘Not as much as this — I believed I could score at this level but to score against all these great teams, it’s really special.
Fellow goalscorer Cantwell added: ‘Me and Teemu have got a brilliant connection, we’re setting each other up, scoring goals. He’s brilliant, he’s more than a goalscorer.’
Guardiola added: ‘Congrats to Norwich. The first goal was from a set-piece and the second on the counter, so credit to them. It is what it is. We have to learn from this and carry on.
‘We created chances but we could not score them today. They are a really good team with good players with quality, we saw that in the Championship last year, they were clinical today.’
NORWICH (4-4-2): Krul; Byram, Amadou, Godfrey, Lewis; Tettey, McLean, Emi (Drmic 83), Stiepermann (Srbeny 89); Cantwell, Pukki. Subs (not used): Hanley, Heise, Fahrmann, McGovern, Idah. Booked: Byram, McLean, Cantwell.
MAN CITY (4-4-1-1): Ederson; Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Zinchenko; Gundogan (De Bruyne 57), Rodri, Bernardo Silva (Mahrez 73), Silva (Gabriel Jesus 57); Sterling; Aguero. Subs (not used): Bravo, Fernandinho, Joao Cancelo, Foden. Booked: Bernardo Silva.
Referee: Kevin Friend. Attendance: 27,035.