After completing back-to-back promotions, the Canaries have continued to thrive in the Premier League under the guidance of highly respected boss Paul Lambert. Earlier in the season Norwich visited both Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford and, although they failed to emerge with any points on either occasion, their attacking style proved threatening and attracted support from neutrals. As a result they travelled to Anfield with no fear.
Kenny Dalglish selected a suitably strong starting line-up. Glen Johnson returned from injury to fill in at right back, while Bellamy was handed a starting berth on the left wing and Dirk Kuyt made his 250th appearance for Liverpool up front alongside Luis Suarez.
In response to recent Parliamentary proceedings investigating the Hillsborough disaster, the Kop held up a ‘JFT96’ mosaic prior to kick off to remind the politicians of the strength of feeling on Merseyside. Meanwhile, on the pitch the match began with an early onslaught from the home side, which persisted throughout the first period.
Only two minutes in Skrtel rattled the cross bar with a powerful near-post header from Charlie Adam’s drilled corner kick, before Suarez turned excellently on the edge of the box and stabbed a shot wide. Soon after, Adam’s raking cross-field pass found Bellamy on the left wing. The Welshman’s cross was struck goalwards first time by Suarez, forcing Ruddy to superbly tip his effort onto the post. Disappointingly, Downing fired the rebound wide when well placed.
There was a brief interlude where Norwich gained some respite from the relentless pressure the Reds’ had put them under. Reina was required to make a smart stop on 16 minutes after Hoolahan broke into the box and drilled one at goal, before a long spell of possession for the visitors culminated in Johnson’s header being deflected behind for a corner, from which Reina collected Morrison’s goalbound header.
Nevertheless, the Reds remained in the ascendancy and continued to create numerous chances. Suarez flashed a strike across the face of goal after latching onto Johnson’s neat pass, Kuyt headed Bellamy’s corner against Adam and the ex Tangerine looped the ball over the bar but the Canaries retained parity until first half stoppage time. Number 39 Craig Bellamy latched onto a poor clearance inside Norwich’s box and struck a low finish past Ruddy, finding the net with the help of a deflection off Martin to send the hosts in with a one-goal lead at the break.
In truth, Delia Smith’s outfit should have been dead and buried at half time. Echoing the dominance of possession and control of proceedings reminiscent of every successful Reds’ side, Dalglish’s men had created chance after chance yet frustratingly failed to take the majority of opportunities they crafted. This failure to kill off the opposition proved costly, as the away side came alive in the second period.
Although Suarez's shot was deflected onto the base of the post after a world-class turn and Bellamy headed Downing's cross into Ruddy's arms, the game completely spun on the introduction of Grant Holt on 56 minutes. The rugged 30-year old Norwich skipper made an instant impact, beating Reina plus two Liverpool defenders to reach Anthony Pilkington's tremendous right wing cross and power a header into the Kop end net. Reina made a mistake by coming for the ball and may have been able to prevent Holt scoring had he remained on his line, however that fact should not detract from the quality of the Norwich number nine's header.
Reina compensated for his error five minutes later though, as his stunning one-handed save denied Holt what appeared destined to be a certain second. The roles had been reversed and the Canaries were now in the ascendancy, threatening Reina's goal and refusing to settle for a point. After 71 minutes Hoolahan drove over from distance, before Reina had to be off his line quickly to thwart a counter-attack that otherwise would have seen a Norwich attacker go one-on-one with the Spaniard.
Referee Peter Walton refused to point to the spot four minutes from time after Barnett had sent Adam crashing to the turf, instead penalising the centre midfielder for supposedly diving. With the hosts getting desperate, two last gasp, gilt-edged chances were created. First, Carroll headed Henderson's cross agonisingly wide of the post from a few yards out. It was a glaring miss from the out of sorts Geordie, who would normally convert that type of chance in his sleep. Then, his superb strike partner Suarez excellently turned Gerrard's cross goalwards with a first time volley. Only a top quality save from Ruddy could deny the Uruguayan the winner and preserve Norwich's point.
Prior to kick off manager Kenny Dalglish insisted that the threat posed by Paul Lambert's side was comparable to that of last weekend's visitors Manchester United. Few believed the Scot at the time and, had Liverpool took the many first half opportunites they created, the players could have made their manager's pre-match comments sound foolish. Unfortunately, Norwich punished them for failing to do so in the second half, netting an equaliser at a key stage in the match and going on to claim an identical result to that of United the previous weekend.
If the Reds are to compete with the likes of United, City and Chelsea for a place in the top four then results like this simply must be cut out. We must start taking our chances and killing teams off rather than allowing them a route back into the contest. Of course, the Canaries deserve congratulating for their resilience and forward-thinking style of play but Liverpool shouldn't have given them any possibility of getting back into the match after that first half performance.
A killer instinct must be developed soon if we are to keep up with the Premier League's forerunners.
YNWA
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