Blackburn Rovers (a) – The ACN Review

Biggest Positive

The performances off the bench. It was a reminder of the amount of quality we still have to come back into this side. 

Kenny McLean was solid and Jordan Hugill did more in five minutes today than I had seen from him previously – he held the ball up well and should have had an assist after an excellent bit of anticipation from the big man. 

However, the majority of my praise is reserved for Todd Cantwell who looks very close to his best again judging by his appearances off the bench in the past two matches. When on-song, few young players in the country have better movement in attacking areas than Todd and I’m excited to see what he can give us for the rest of the season.

Weekend Whinge

Am I allowed to complain about the referee even if I’m very anti-VAR? Well I am going to anyway. Although Cantwell’s reaction was more suited to amateur dramatics rather than a football field, it should be noted it was definitely a foul. A poke in the eye is a foul and and it should have been a penalty. It seems like the only reason it wasn’t was due to the ref not quite seeing the contact or the fact it was a bit of a novelty. 

And that wasn’t the only poor decision. Pukki was penalised for getting elbowed in the face and then wasn’t given a free-kick for being pulled back on a potential counter. Max Aarons was completely wiped out down the wing right in front of the linesman who somehow didn’t see it. Baffling. 

Moment(s) of the Match

Teemu Pukki’s instinctive finish for his second from Emi’s shot. It came at the perfect time as it looked like the momentum was with Blackburn after their equaliser. It quite clearly knocked the wind out of the Rovers sails and if anything it should have been the platform for a much more comfortable win given the chances that fell to Cantwell and Stiepermann late on.

As an aside there were three moments that really stuck in my head in the first half. I will be daydreaming for weeks to come about that chance Josh Martin had where he flicked the ball over the head of the defender and it didn’t quite fall for him in time to volley home. 

Similarly when Teemu Pukki attempted to lob the Blackburn keeper minutes before his first goal, both of these efforts would have been goal of the season contenders if they had gone in. 

There was also a beautiful sweeping move that ended with Josh Martin seeing a shot saved which may have been the team goal of the season had he finished it.

Farke Watch

In the press conference on Friday, it was a huge relief to hear Farke say there were no fresh injury worries. He deserves huge credit and praise for how he has managed this squad so far this season. 

I’m not just talking about dealing with another injury ravaged season, but the thing that has impressed me most is the mental side of this squad and Farke himself. 

Many careers could have been ruined by what happened during Project Restart, but now we’re looking an even more determined side than we did two years seasons ago and that requires a lot of character. 

He was about to make a triple-sub before we took the lead again. In the end it was a perfectly timed double-sub that provided us with the fresh legs to control the match for the crucial period at 2-1. The aforementioned introduction of Hugill also had a positive impact and although Blackburn had a couple of chances it didn’t feel like we were hanging on desperately. 

Random Star Performer

Two goals for the Goat to bring him up to 50 goals in 100 appearances is exactly what I asked for pre-match and it is exactly what we got. Take a bow, Teemu Pukki. The Finn looked lively from the first minute today and the Blackburn defenders looked terrified of him. A fantastic display from a striker who along with Buendía and Krul is basically impossible to replace in this team.

I have to give a mention to the man at the other end too. Although arguably at fault for the possession that led to the Blackburn goal, Michael McGovern pulled off one of the saves of the season at 0-0 and gave a much more assured display. I think there has been a slight improvement with his confidence and performance levels in each game and although his kicking is still weak and causes issues, overall he has done okay. Mind you, I’m still looking forward to having Tim Krul back. 

I think picking three star performers is pushing it, but I can’t let this review go out without mentioning Alex Tettey. An assist today on his 250th appearance for the club, a wonderful character and reliable player who has actually got better since Farke took charge. He certainly deserves a testimonial year. 

Summary

Norwich have come through another big test of their promotion credentials with all three points and now sit top of the league averaging just over two points a game.

If that sentence sounds familiar then it’s because I wrote the exact same thing after we beat Middlesbrough 1-0. 

Another big test awaits on Wednesday night in front of the Sky TV cameras. Reading were fortunate to get all three points away to QPR on Saturday by most accounts and are currently missing three key players — although 19-year-old attacking midfielder Michael Olise is one to keep an eye on. 

Nevertheless, if recent weeks have shown anything it is that we should fear no team or player at this level as we have a lot of quality ourselves. 

Never mind the danger.