Norwich 1-3 Chelsea; Hazard and Willian bring on late fireworks to sink resilient Canaries

Eden Hazard and Willian gave Chelsea their first away win in the League with late strikes as Mourinho’s side struggled to contain a resilient Norwich from equalizing, after Oscar gave visitors the lead 4 minutes into the match. While there was a relatively small story to the tactics aspect of the contest, the match itself turned out to be an orthodox English game with long balls and physical play.

Starting XI’s

Norwich City (4-3-3): Ruddy – Martin, Turner, Bassong, Olsson – Tettey, Fer, Howson – Pilkington, Snodgrass, van Wolfswinkel

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech – Cole, Terry, Luiz, Ivanovic – Ramires, Lampard – Oscar, Mata, Schurrle – Ba

The last time Norwich played at Carrow Road against Aston Villa, they were kept away from any chance of points by a brilliant Brad Guzan. Today, Chris Hughton made one change from the side that defeated Stoke last week at the Britannia stadium. Sebastian Bassong returned to the heart of Norwich defense alongside Turner, relegating Ryan Bennett to the bench. All the unchanged players lined up in their familiar positions.

Mourinho made only one change from the midweek game against Steaua Bucharest. Fernando Torres’ knee injury meant Demba Ba made his 2nd start this season with Samuel Eto’o restricted to the bench. Cesar Azpilicueta had wait for his first start of the season in the league as Ivanovic was again favored for the rightback position.

First Half

Chelsea take advantage of the Sun, Ba shines.

It would be a bit cynical to blame a natural force for Norwich’s wobbly display in the first half, but that surely was the case with keeper John Ruddy having a tough time eyeing Chelsea’s long balls. With Juan Mata and Oscar in the lineup, one would expect Chelsea to play more on the ground with short passing and trickery, but the blues took the direct route, right from the start and Demba Ba was hassling Turner with his inch perfect onside runs behind the defense.

The first Chelsea goal which came just after 3 minutes was initiated with a long ball from Lampard. Demba Ba controlled the aerial ball exquisitely and set up the onrushing Oscar, to score with a well struck outside of the boot shot from the edge of the Norwich box. The early goal set the tone for the rest of the half as Chelsea enjoyed the lion’s share of possession. Norwich though, tried to come back into the game in the last 15 minutes with some decent build ups inside the Chelsea half. The story of the moment though, was John Ruddy vs Demba Ba. The Senegalese striker troubled Ruddy on many occasions, by going into aerial challenges with him and winning most of them. But Ruddy was intelligent enough to recover to thwart the immediately next move from Chelsea. David Luiz too tested the Norwich keeper as he tried his luck from inside his half with a shot that looked more like a clearance.

Chelsea’s shape comes back to haunt them, Norwich dangerous on counters.

The Blues lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Juan Mata on the right wing and Andre Schurrle on the left. Oscar was playing close to Demba Ba in the central role. Frank Lampard was positioned deeper in midfield than Ramires, with the Brazilian shuttling up and down the pitch with consistency and linking up play on the right wing. Drifting into the center of the pitch being the prime tendency of Juan Mata’s play, the right wing was going to be the chink in the Chelsea side. Today, It was a different story though. Chelsea played most of their first half on that particular wing. Martin Olsson had a torrid time dealing with the overloads created by Ivanovic, Mata and Oscar. Schurrle meanwhile moved into a central role behind Demba Ba, giving Chelsea a lopsided shape.

The Duel: David Luiz vs Van Wolfswinkel

This was all good only when Chelsea were with the ball. Anthony Pilkington had a bad start to the game and his ineffectiveness was exploited on the right flank. Frank Lampard had a brilliant half, as he sat deep in the midfield and picked out his teammates with his accurate sprays. The duel between David Luiz and van Wolfswinkel attracted some attention from the crowd and the referee alike, with the Dutchman warned for his repeated fouling. The one thing Norwich did best the whole evening was to counter with precision. Howson was instrumental in almost all of the moves and Norwich had some good half chances in the Chelsea box.

Norwich got the grip of the game after almost half hour of play and were more confident with their passing. Their major attacking threat, the wingplay, came onto the fore as both fullbacks made overlaps with the wingers tucking in. Olsson in particular was much more effective than Russell Martin. Snodgrass and Pilkington drifted into central positions trying to find that killer pass, with the visitors falling back deep. The narrowness of Chelsea in attack positions and with Ramires not at his best, allowed the home team to dominate in the middle of the pitch. The constant pressure from Norwich until the half time whistle didn’t yield a goal and a grueling second half loomed large.

Second Half

This half wasn’t much of an entertainer up until the equalizer from Anthony Pilkington on 68 minute mark. Chelsea had more time on the ball and were adventurous with their attacking moves. Norwich were patient in their play as they neutralized the visitors, restricting them to wild shots form outside the box, and countered with perfection. The confidence of Chris Hughton in his starting XI was well rewarded as they found an equalizer from a Pilkington header after some lazy Chelsea defending. The runs of the Norwich wingers into central positions behind Lampard and Ramires made life difficult for Ashley Cole and Ivanovic. They were caught in two minds on who to mark, with the fullbacks Olsson and Martin making overlaps.

Norwich City: Average Player Positions[Source: Whoscored.com]

Frank Lampard was playing much higher in the mid than in the first half and Ramires was not his usual energetic self in tracking back. Juan Mata and Schurrle weren’t of much help in defensive positions either. As a result, the backline of Chelsea had to deal with a 5 v 4 situation. On paper, there should never have been a goal, but both Terry and Luiz failed to mark their targets with Cech having no chance of saving the header, bound goal ward.

Mourinho reacts, Hazard and Willian sparkle and dazzle

Following the Canaries goal, Mourinho straight away made a substitution, swapping Demba Ba for Samuel Eto’o. Ashley Cole’s rib injury forced his manager into making another change, but Mourinho was not going to sacrifice a defensive substitution, and instead went for Eden Hazard. Chelsea now were back into the shape they played against Everton in the final stages of the game.

The 3 and half backline seems to the popular option for the Portuguese when chasing games. Andre Schurrle slotted into that wingback role on the left with Hazard playing ahead of him. The shape resembled more of a lopsided 3-6-1, with the right wing completely ignored. Chelsea had some half chances inside Norwich’s box with these changes, but they were very vulnerable after losing the ball. Similar to the Everton match, there was no proper organized shape to defend a counter attack. They had take their chances and hope Norwich squandered their opportunities.

Chelsea: Average Player Positions[Source: Whoscored.com]

Nathan Redmond came on for Norwich and was a live wire from the word go. He forced a brilliant save from Petr Cech and posed a lot of problems with his direct runs. Juan Mata was replaced by Willian to add fresh legs in attack and the Brazilian didn’t disappoint on his league debut. A poor Norwich corner, and a good 4 Chelsea headers later, Willian released Oscar on the right wing and Hazard ran past a group of Norwich players on the left. A juicy long ball and scrappy defending later, Hazard fired in a rocket on Ruddy’s goal, only for the keeper to slow the ball down as it rolled past the line. Norwich were still in the game, but were not able to cope with the formation change of Chelsea.

Hazard fires home the 2nd Chelsea goal.

The Blues now had more numbers in the middle of the pitch with explosive wingers in Hazard and Willian in wide positions. Samuel Eto’o did his bit with his runs by offering avenues for his teammates to exploit. Such a move, resulted in the ball falling for Willian on the edge of the box and the shot that followed dumbfounded almost everyone watching the match. A spectacular rocket curler into the far top corner with Ruddy clasping onto thin air was the indication of full points for Mourinho and Co. on a tough afternoon at Carrow Road. The Norwich players gave up after that brilliant goal and helped Chelsea coast to a comfortable away victory, their first one this season.

Total Shots by Chelsea[Source: Squawka.com]

Man of the Match, Oscar or Lampard?

Chelsea might have won the game late, but that is what you expect when the bench has players like Hazard and Willian. Oscar was everywhere on the pitch, contributing to all phases of play. His opening goal, the long ball to find Hazard for the second goal will weigh heavily in his performance score. Lampard meanwhile, had a much better game in terms of statistics. He completed most number of passes in the game and was instrumental in the first Chelsea goal. It seems as though he is settling well into the DM role, but one still has those niggling doubts.

Match Stats: Norwich(left) & Chelsea(right)[Source: Whoscored.com]

Anyway, with Spurs losing heavily to West Ham at home and Arsenal held to a draw by West Brom, this win for Chelsea becomes much more prominent. A game is won by goals and not stats alone. So, Oscar is the worthy recipient of the MOTM award.

Player of the Match: Oscar