Brentford (h) – The ACN Review

Star Performer

Regular readers will be getting pretty tired of Grant Hanley’s weekly mention here, while his defensive partner has continued to be quietly excellent.

Ben Gibson is the centre back Norwich City needed in the Premier League. Quite soon he’s going to be our centre back for the Premier League.

It’s glaringly obvious, even without all the subtleties you can pick up on from actually being at matches, that Gibson is a natural leader and extremely well regarded among his team mates. His zipped balls into the midfield are the springboard for many of City’s more effective attacks and he’s almost as imperious in the air as the skipper.

We’ll need more signings of Gibson’s calibre and character for the challenges to come.

Also, we think Ivan Toney may not have found his way out of Gibson’s pocket as yet.

Biggest positive

Well… we’re 10 points clear buh. If you can’t take a positive from that then we can’t help you. Adding to the positivity was how composed the team were in the face of much better-than-usual opponents.

There may well be no stand out teams in this division, but Brentford stood out as being able to press, and defend well when we broke through, and to have a real threat of their own up front. This wasn’t a relaxing win, but it’s not one of the more tense endings we’ve seen either.

Much of that comes from what might well be Norwich City’s defining quality of 2020/21 – game management. Last time out in the Championship the excitement came from knowing literally anything could happen. During this season it’s more considered, more controlled and more, well, Premier League ready.

Midweek moan

Is there anything to moan about? Ten points clear despite not being a stand out team. Can’t complain. 

Ok, if you’re going to push us to find something to nit-pick about, maybe that commentators in general aren’t anywhere near the standard of Chris Goreham. This week it was by virtue of the fact Sky Sports couldn’t really be arsed to learn the correction pronunciations of our full backs’ names. That is unless Max Air-runs and Dmitri Giannaarrrlis were January additions we somehow missed.

Moment(s) of the Match

Two stand out moments in a game without any stand out teams: 

Emiliano Buendia’s goal is one of those worth watching over and over again. That’s ten goals and ten assists for the Argentine this season and so many of them are like this one: brave, imaginative and pinpoint in the finish. And with a special mention for Vrancic’s run to pull a defender away. Superb.

Oh, and THAT through ball to Pukki on the stroke of half time, *chef’s kiss*. 

Shout out for Sergi Canos’ helping hand in the early minutes of the game.  His miss when it really was easier to hit the target was something special. Hit the back of the net there, and the game could have gone in a very different direction. He then contrives to waste possession in the lead up to the game’s solitary goal too. 

Sergi, we salute you, even more so after your relatively salty pre-match comments about not getting a proper chance in a yellow shirt. You kind of proved Alex Neil’s point for him with this display. 

Farke Watch

“Play this game like a bunch of mates on the bloody muddy training pitch. It’s not about tables, or trophies, or contracts or the future, it’s just you want to win this game.” Tactics, line ups, subs – it’s all interesting, yet pales in comparison to Farke’s philosophy. We might not be the stand out team in this league despite being 10 (ten) points clear, but Farke has got this team playing this well by playing the right way, and it’s why we love him so.

Summary

Another excellent night for City, as the promotion train rumbles on. It was particularly pleasing Norwich bested a direct rival for the first time in a while, all on the back of what was was a superb team performance.

Solid saves from Krul. Robust defending and full backs offering width and pace. Skipp massive again, and McClean almost somehow more massiver. Buendia imperious, Vrancic and Hernandez in his shadow but still good. And Pukki giving Brentford trouble the whole way through the way. Being beaten 1-0 by a team that doesn’t even stand out in this league really flattered Brentford, and that’s not a slight on them – it really was the performance of a team that is deservedly heading back to the Premier League.