It took just 82 seconds for City to shake off the rumours that they might be about to succumb to their second consecutive defeat in the league this season, following a shock loss at Sunderland on Boxing Day. All the news about City had been dreary, trailing Manchester United by seven points, the league champions were statistically inferior to their performances at the same stage last season, and unceremoniously dumped out of Europe. But a rip-roaring four minutes into the match at Carrow Road and Roberto Mancini's much maligned men were already 2-0 up. Edin Dzeko was the architect, but with Sergio Agüero, David Silva and the rest of the team firing on all cylinders, City truly looked unstoppable.
From that vantage point it was hard to see how Norwich might avoid the kind of humbling 5-1 and 6-1 batterings they had endured at the hands of City last season. But, impressively, Chris Hughton's side were able to maintain their composure, keep a good amount of possession, and calmly strike back through Anthony Pilkington's free-kick after Robert Snodgrass was brought down on the edge of the area by Vincent Kompany.
City, though, were not about to lie down to yet another lower half of the table side, and instead kept up the pressure – a lovely run from Agüero almost forcing Javier Garrido into an own goal, as goalkeeper Mark Bunn tipped the ball over the crossbar with his fingertips, before Yaya Toure put in an effort that flew just inches wide of the post.
As the match raced towards half-time, the narrative took an ugly turn – Bassong's halfway line tackle on Nasri prompting the France international to leap to his feet and square up to the Norwich defender. Tempers flaring, head grinding against head, Nasri added in the slightest of headbutts and the referee sent him off – the City midfielder protesting all the way.
The second half brought thrilling action as City twice more surged ahead – first through Aguero just minutes into the second half, then Dzeko forcing another goal when his shot came back off the post and went in off the goalkeeper's head – but after each strike Norwich captain Russell Martin hit back to close the gap.
As the minutes ticked down and Norwich searched for an equaliser, a series of leisurely substitutions from the City camp gave rise to agonised howls from the home fans, desperate to use up every last one of their match minutes. Sadly for Hughton's men it was not to be, Norwich enduring a second consecutive home defeat after an unbeaten run of five victories.
No comments:
Post a Comment