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ricardo

Ricardo's report v Man City

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It was grey and a bit misty in Norfolk this morning but the stroll to the match was brightened considerably after some lovely chips at the Grosvenor Fish Bar. Other points of note on the way were the half and half scarf seller just over the bridge, (who buys those things?) and one note Willie the young saxophonist outside the swimming pool. I reckon he''ll be a virtuoso by the time we trouble this league again.On to the match. AN repaired the Tombola machine and this time the names of Olsson, Jarvis and Patrick Bamford were drawn out. After an inconclusive first few minutes it was Man City who began to look dangerous with Aguero and David Silva looking particularly lively. The City defence was soon being stretched but they held together well at the expense of a couple of corners and some good blocking. The Canaries eventually got a decent move going when Martin broke down the right and earned a corner from which Olsson''s twenty-five yarder bothered nobody but the crowd in the Barclay End.The game developed into a fierce midfield battle with some strong tackles going in from both teams but as time wore on Man City became more ascendant with Aguero going closest with a free kick that Ruddy palmed over. It was beginning to look like one way traffic with only rare forays forward by the home team and these mostly broke down with a poor final pass but somehow we got beyond the twenty minute mark with too many alarms.Approaching the half hour mark Aguero again produced a bit of magic as he broke clear and shot from the edge of the box only for Ruddy to make a fine stop with a strong right hand. This seemed to signal a City reply at long last and they received good backing from the crowd for forcing Man City back for much of the rest of the half. There was some sustained pressure on Hart''s goal in the 37th minute but despite several bites at the cherry City couldn''t find a good enough final ball. Then City suffered an injury blow when Redmond who had been looking lively had to limp off with a knock on the ankle. However City continued to press at every opportunity and five minutes from the break the hard working Bamford stole the ball from Kompany and lashed a swerving shot against the crossbar with Hart a mere spectator and then just on the whistle Jarvis had a shot defelcted just wide with Hart again nowhere in sight.It was a decent performance and City had fought their way back in after a shaky start and you could see the confidence coming back. It was much the same at the start of the second period but City stared to give the ball away again and needed too long to dwell before picking a pass. Man City gradually began exerting more and more authority but wave after wave of attacks floundered on City''s defence that was being superbly marshaled by Klose and Bennett. Wes and Patrick Bamford were both withdrawn just after the hour to good applause especially for young Bamford who had had a fine debut. You could see that both had run themselves out and when Mbokani and Jerome came on and at last City began to win a few headers and free kicks in the opposing half.Man City were becoming frustrated and could not pick a way through the massed ranks of yellow and green and resorted to a few speculative efforts but nothing to trouble John Ruddy. Even the advent of Raheem Stirling failed to do the trick as attack after attack was repelled to raucous cheers from the City faithful. You sensed City would get a chance and in the final five minutes they had a really good one. Mbokani latched on to a deflected clearance before teeing up Dorrans with a clear shot from the edge of the box. Anything on target might have done it but he slashed across the ball and it skidded a yard wide. It wasn''t to be but but a clean sheet and a point was greeted like a victory at the final whistle.It was a case of every man a hero as hope was revived and although it would be churlish to name names after such an effort I am going to award my MOM jointly to Gary Oneil and Tim Klose for exertions above and beyond the call of duty. Last week I was settling nicely into acceptance of our fate but now the buggers have got me hoping again.[Y]Its a funny old life and a funny old game.[:D]

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It''s the hope that kills you, as the old saying goes[:D]Cheers Ricardo[Y]

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Good report as always.

I felt today would be different today when an overhead seagull did a whoopsie on a water bottle held by a lady behind me in the queue for chips at CR. Two good omens here - lucky it didn''t land on me and lucky it didn''t land on her head.

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O''Neil or Bamford MOTM for me. Bamford is a no.10 as was asked to do the loan role and did a good job. He chased and chased. As a loan player he put more effort in than a lot of those who just allowed man city time and space on the ball. That Dorrans shot was woeful, and he should''ve taken a touch. A good performance, but we''ll need a little more upfront against the lesser sides coming up!

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Man City supporting friend sat next to me was amazed at how solid our defence was.

He was very impressed & convinced we would stay up.

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Was he sat with you at the ground Number 9, in the home area......

Thought Howson needs a mention for some superb midfield marshalling/thumping tackling/creating play

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Hard to pick a MOTM because they were all heroes. I was praying we wouldn''t get the kick in the teeth at the end but the defence held firm and unlike Chelsea and West ham the players left the field with their heads held high after another good performance but this time no unhappy ending. Let''s hope this enables them to carry on in the same vein at West Brom.

 

 

 

 

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I had a complete change of routine and listened to the game whilst out on by cycle.

The Radio Norfolk reception was lousy along with the insipid Mark Rivers who was co commentator. I therefore switched to 5Live and it was crystal clear with some very interesting analysis by the non punch pulling Chris Sutton who sounds a bit like John Bond.

In particular Super Chris said we did not have enough variety up front in our strikers but more so repeatedly pointed out when those strikers failed to show and so presented no passing options for others.

The BBC commentator consistently revealed he knew very little about Norwich, Carrow Road or our players.

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With that sort of fighting spirit we are not down and out.

Most enjoyable no score game I''ve seen for a long time.

Well done City.

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From watching a stream it was Howson, Martin, O''Neill and Klose who stood out. It was our best defensive performance of the season, and whilst not absolutely perfect, we looked extremely well organised.I''d say O''Neill was MoM as he was like the conductor of an orchestra, leading most of our defensive efforts, remaining calm on the ball and leading by example.

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[quote user="93vintage"]From watching a stream it was Howson, Martin, O''Neill and Klose who stood out. It was our best defensive performance of the season, and whilst not absolutely perfect, we looked extremely well organised.

I''d say O''Neill was MoM as he was like the conductor of an orchestra, leading most of our defensive efforts, remaining calm on the ball and leading by example.
[/quote]

 

Some great performances yesterday , but I thought O''Neil''s was one of the performances of the season let alone yesterday. That f***ing tackle against Stoke annoys me even more now [:@]

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[quote user="93vintage"]From watching a stream it was Howson, Martin, O''Neill and Klose who stood out. It was our best defensive performance of the season, and whilst not absolutely perfect, we looked extremely well organised.I''d say O''Neill was MoM as he was like the conductor of an orchestra, leading most of our defensive efforts, remaining calm on the ball and leading by example.[/quote]

I know things are getting desperate but I didn''t realise we''d re signed martin o''neil ! Did he last the full 90 minutes ?

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