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

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