Saints took all three points for the second time in four days giving themselves a much needed boost to 16th place in the Championship table with a debut goal from on-loan striker Jordan Robertson and a David McGoldrick penalty.
Stern John and Morgan Schneiderlin both missed out with the hamstring injuries they picked up in the win at Doncaster on Saturday, and Paul Wotton was also ruled out after picking up a knock in training. Chris Perry came into the side as captain alongside Olly Lancashire at the back, Tomas Pekhart replaced John up front and Robertson made his Saints debut in a wide left position in an attacking-looking midfield 5 of Robertson, Lallana, Cork, Surman and McGoldrick. Rudi Skacel made the 16 for the first time this season as he took a seat on the bench.
Saints started fairly brightly with McGoldrick and Robertson looking lively, and it was McGoldrick who went closest in the early exchanges when his cross was blocked but the ball ran kindly back into his path but from a tight angle his shot rebounded wide off the outside of the post.
Norwich then started to take a grip of the game and Saints looked very nervy for a period of about 20 minutes or so, where the visitors could have put the game out of sight. They hit the woodwork themselves when Antoine Sibierski met Gary Croft’s cross, the ball hitting the inside of the post but fortunately bouncing clear. Oman Koroma, on loan from Pompey, then had a gilt-edged chance when he somehow found himself unmarked inside the six-yard box but could only put his header over the bar.
Saints were crying out for a little bit of inspiration and on the half-hour mark it certainly came. Robertson collected the ball on the left touchline, cut inside the full-back and appeared set for a cross, but surprised everyone with a fierce curling effort that found the top corner.
Jan Poortvliet made a surprise substitution shortly afterwards, replacing Tomas Pekhart with Bradley Wright-Phillips, who took up Robertson’s position on the left wing with the Sheffield United loanee moving further forward. Pekhart didn’t appear to be injured, so I can only assume it was a tactical move.
Norwich carved out a couple of half-chances late in the first half, but neither Koroma, Sibierski or Darel Russell could even hit the target, let alone force Kelvin Davis into a save.
Saints then nearly doubled the advantage on the stroke of half time. Wright-Phillips, who had looked completely lost in the 15 minutes he’d been on the pitch to date, had a clear 30-yard run to the edge of the area where he unleashed a fierce left-footed drive which cannoned back off the crossbar and away to safety.
HALF TIME: Saints 1-0 Norwich City
It took both sides a little while to get going in the second half, although City had clearly had an earful from manager Glenn Roeder at half-time as they were chasing the ball all over the place. Their hassling managed to carve out a fantastic chance to equalise just before the hour when Lancashire failed to clear the ball allowing Croft to steal it from him. He fed Koroma who beat Lloyd James and found himself in the clear, but his shot hit Davis on the right shoulder and cannoned behind for a corner. From that corner, Davis was again in the thick of the action as Sibierski’s header was powerful but this time found Davis’ left shoulder was equally as strong and the ball rebounded to safety.
This seemed to stir Saints into action, and they took a stranglehold of the game minutes later. Good interplay between James and Adam Lallana on the right wing led to Lallana cutting inside. It looked as if he had uncharacteristically allowed the ball to get away from him, but his quick feet allowed him to recover and lulled ex-Pompey defender Dejan Stefanovic into a rash challenge just inside the area, with referee Richard Beeby having no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
What followed isn’t exactly clear. Several Norwich players surrounded the referee, and then all of a sudden a red card was produced for Stefanovic, for what I can only presume was foul and abusive language. I’m pretty sure it can’t have been for the foul, which probably wouldn’t have even warranted a booking. Having missed the second of the two penalties he took on Saturday, Andrew Surman handed penalty-taking duties over to David McGoldrick, and he cooly sent David Marshall the wrong way to make it 2-0.
It should have been 3-0 just three minutes later when Wright-Phillips was put clear but with a tight angle, Marshall made a decent save. The rebound, however, fell to Adam Lallana but Jon Otsemobor found himself in the right place at the right time to block it on the line and Robertson’s follow-up went wide.
Saints’ confidence was clearly sky-high at this point, and shots were raining in on Marshall’s goal from all angles, with the Norwich keeper having to make decent one-handed saves from McGoldrick, Lallana and Robertson.
Glenn Roeder’s attempt to get Norwich back into the game saw him replace Koroma and Sibierski, arguably Norwich’s best two players on the night, with Arturo Lupoli and Jamie Cureton. Those with a reasonable memory will be well aware of Cureton’s knack of scoring against us, so with that in mind the game was still far from over even with only six minutes left on the clock. It was Lupoli who found himself with a great chance to bring the visitors back into the game when he found himself onside with only Davis to beat but a fair tame effort was comfortably tipped round the near post.
Robertson should have had his second of the night when Mills charged forward and put in a perfect cross but his flicked attempt missed the far post by a matter of inches. Robertson was then replaced by Matt Paterson, also making his debut, and he went off to a standing ovation from the St Mary’s crowd.
Three minutes of injury time brought nothing of any real note and the final whistle blew to move Saints above Norwich and up into 16th place in the Championship table.
FULL TIME: Saints 2-0 Norwich City
The Verdict: A thoroughly entertaining game, with the right result at the end of it. There have been so many occasions since we were relegated where we’ve created chance after chance and then lived to regret it as we end up dropping points as the opposition prove to be more ruthless in front of goal.
But for a string of great saves by David Marshall, we could have had 5 or 6 in the second half, and while we’re indebted to the shot-stopping ability of our own keeper Kelvin Davis and the poor finishing of Omar Koroma, it’s great to see the team playing with confidence again. The Blackpool game a month ago was clearly a bitter blow to the younger lads, and one which they only really recovered from at Doncaster on Saturday, but the table now looks a whole lot better with a larger number in the points column than in the games played one.
Glenn Roeder seems to think the penalty was a) not a foul, and b) not even in the area, but that shouldn’t overshadow what was an excellent attacking display in the second half.
Tonight’s game still leaves a fair number of question marks, though. Firstly, why hasn’t Jack Cork been playing in midfield for us more often? He is the dynamic defensive lynchpin we’ve been crying out for for a long time. Secondly, Bradley Wright-Phillips. The lad is clearly trying his best, but he looks completely lost among a group of younger players who are technically streets ahead of him. In hindsight, perhaps Rudi Skacel might have been a better bet for the wide-left role. Another question is clearly going to centre around the future of Adam Lallana, just how long can we keep Premier League sides at bay? His touch and technique is far better than any I can remember in the three-and-a-bit years we’ve been in this division, and for a young player who only broke into the team at the end of last season, that’s some feat.
The acid test, following this victory, is to follow it up with a performance against Coventry on Saturday. Unfortunately, that comes in the form of a televised game, and results-wise, we’ve been pretty dire when Sky have shown our games in recent times. The players need to keep their feet firmly on the ground. I suspect a few may have got ideas slightly above their station after the Birmingham cup win, which was then followed by an apparent home banker against relegation favourites Blackpool. Of course, we all know how that one turned out, so it’s important the lads take each game on its merits. I always think the oft-quoted saying “You’re only as good as your last game” is complete bollocks. If you place too much weight on your last match, and that last match was a good performance, you’re liable to relax into a pattern of believing every game will look as easy as that last one, which is rarely the case.
Coventry are a different team, almost certainly with a different style of play, and they’ll need to be ready to combat that.
The only real negative that can be taken from tonight is the attendance (again). 14,480 is poor and, with an apparent break-even figure of around 18,000, one the club cannot sustain financially for too long. Hopefully now we’ve got a home win under our belts, and with the positive reports that will come out from tonight’s performance, we’ll begin to attract a few of the doubters back to St Mary’s.
