An away trip to Stamford Bridge had pundits and bookmakers predicting an easy home win for Chelsea. The predicted dominance is embodied by Victor Chandler, where a betting man would find the odds of a Norwich win rated at 16/1.
Norwich City FC would temporarily confound their critics as they gave Andre Villas Boas' Chelsea side a real run for their money. On numerous occasions Norwich threatened the Chelsea back-line and in doing so, made John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic look like far from international pedigree.
Norwich sides of old would have crumbled in the Championship, after conceding early away from home, never-mind in the Premiership. This performance against Chelsea should fill every Norwich fan with pride; at how far the side has come since the dark days of Glen Roeder and because of the resilience shown. The final day 6-0 thumping at Fulham has been well publicised, yet thankfully, no remnants of that sides spirit remains. It may still be 31 games since a Norwich away win, but it is on the horizon.
Grant Holt has now scored in each of the four divisions and his performance has put to rest any scepticism, including my own, about his ability to perform in the Premiership. Darting and well-timed runs in between the Chelsea back-line saw the captain look like a young, pacey striker rather than a bustling and commanding target man.
More than once he burst through on goal and clever movement saw Holt find space in the Chelsea box, only for his free-header to be met by Hilario. A big physical proposition, Holt dominated Terry and his presence would see Ivanovic and Hilario collide, as he acrobatically hooked the ball into the vacant Chelsea net. THe Norwich number 9 was good value for his opening goal of the campaign.
More than once he burst through on goal and clever movement saw Holt find space in the Chelsea box, only for his free-header to be met by Hilario. A big physical proposition, Holt dominated Terry and his presence would see Ivanovic and Hilario collide, as he acrobatically hooked the ball into the vacant Chelsea net. THe Norwich number 9 was good value for his opening goal of the campaign.
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| Holt grabs Norwich's equaliser |
This Norwich side contains no fear and even after the switch to 4-4-2, Kyle Naughton was not afraid to bomb forward to provide support on the right-hand-side and is proving to be a useful attacking option. Wes Hoolahan continued his early season form and provided a cutting edge that big-spending Chelsea lacked, until Juan Mata made a substitute appearance. Surely it is only a matter of time before Mr Trapattoni callsup the Irishman to the national side.
An academy graduate; Chris Martin also put in a spirited performance and could have grabbed himself a goal. Finding himself through on the right-hand-side of goal, Martin's low drive was parried by Hilario. Determined and spirited, Martin recovered to release the ball to Naughton on the edge of the Chelsea box and his subsequent drive was once again saved. Martin's eagerness to chase lost-causes whilst creating good opportunities embellished the Norwich performance.
After the substitution of Zak Whitbread and the switch back to the standard 4-4-2, this Norwich side proved that they have the ability to compete and survive in the Premiership. Their performance is one that us fans can take heart from, they gave Chelsea everything and could have taken the lead. Substitute Steve Morison, found himself clear of the Chelsea defence but was to have his shot blocked by England International Terry.
It has been mentioned in this blog before that Norwich lack a bit of Premiership know-how and unfortunately this was the decisive factor in their downfall. City 'keeper John Ruddy, had commanded his box and made a number of good saves in the game until once again, disaster struck.
For the third game running, Norwich can feel that lady luck and refereeing decisions have been against them. Three penalties and two red cards; Wigan's Franco Di Santo went down very easily in the box, Leon Barnett's tackle was outside the penalty area and in the Chelsea Ramires was going away from goal and perhaps Ruddy can felt harshly treated.
The ever-dependable penalty taker Frank Lampard, blasted the ball past substitute 'keeper, Declan Rudd. Then almost inevitably, with ten men, Norwich would come under pressure and the eleven minutes of extra time saw new 23-million-pound-man, Juan Mata slot home for Chelsea's third.
The Norwich City squad and management team will take great confidence from this performance, where on another day, one point or more could have been taken from the Bridge. Mistakes need to be cut-out and Norwich have and will be punished in the Premiership for defensive lapses in concentration. Tightening up the defence is a priority and reinforcements will be needed to cover Ruddy's absence. When Norwich are a strong defensive unit, they have enough attacking quality to win games.
This performance will have made each and every Norwich fan proud to support their team. The only shame is that the side came away from the game with no points to show for their spirited endeavours.
OTBC.
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Disclaimer- picture is BBC.
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