FULL TIME: Norwich City 0-0 Chelsea
And that’s that. Norwich were decent, Chelsea under par. A draw seems a fair result. And it’s back to Stamford Bridge they go!
90 min +2: Norwich are under the cosh as they attempt to hold on for a replay. Sterling wheechs down the right and earns a corner. The set piece drops to Zappacosta, to the left of the D. He chests down and tries to Le Tissier a volley into the bottom right. It’s a lovely effort, inches wide of the right-hand post.
90 min +1: Musonda has a whack from 25 yards out on the left. It’s well wide of goal. “£142 million seems a lot for one football player,” argues Simon McMahon. “You could buy the entire Dundee United team for that money, and still have £141 million left over for sweets.”
90 min: Zappacosta takes a looping punt from distance. Gunn gathers. Sterling comes on for Pedro. Drinkwater curls a high cross into the Norwich box from the left towards Morata, who is flagged offside. There will be three added minutes.
88 min: Wildschut comes on for Pritchard.
87 min: Rudiger, moving to gather a ball that had gone out for a goal kick, goes nose to nose with a punter in the front row who had thrown it elsewhere. The punter smiles for the camera as Rudiger thinks better of lingering and continuing the discussion.
85 min: Olivera’s first act is to skedaddle down the right. He nearly gets the better of Pedro, but not quite. Pedro goes racing off upfield, and is tugged by Tettey, who is booked for his cynicism.
83 min: Murphy is replaced by the not-fully-fit Olivera.
82 min: Drinkwater eases his way towards the Norwich box and looks for the top right from distance. Gunn claims easily.
80 min: Maddison buys a cheap free kick from Bakayoko, running into him down the Norwich left. Pritchard scampers after the set piece, sent flying down the inside-left channel, but Caballero has it covered.
78 min: Musonda comes on for Kenedy.
77 min: Luiz whips a wonderful effort towards the top left. It’s inches over the bar. Gunn would have probably tipped that over with a strong hand, but what a free kick from a frankly silly angle. Luiz is one of the most entertaining players in the world, whatever he gets up to.
76 min: Bakayoko drives gracefully down the inside-left channel and is brought crashing to the floor by Hanley, who is booked and doesn’t bother arguing. A free kick 25 yards out, but well to the left. Luiz seems to fancy it, though.
74 min: Batshuayi, who has been very quiet, is replaced by Morata.
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73 min: The corner is no good.
72 min: Chelsea hog the ball, slowly moving their way upfield with some crisp, pretty triangles. Eventually Willian earns a corner.
70 min: The corner is no good.
69 min: Kenedy faffs around over a throw-in, is closed down by Pritchard, and hacks his opponent to the ground. Free kick, which is whipped into the box, and ... can you shank a punch? Well, if you can, Caballero’s just managed it. He flies out of his goal and, in an attempt to punch the ball out to the left, sends it to the right, and to the feet of Murphy, whose first-time shot through a crowded box is going wide right but is deflected off Luiz for a corner.
66 min: A long period of Chelsea possession ends when Pedro glides in from the left and unleashes a bobbler which is gathered easily by Gunn. The champions are on top, but the Norwich keeper has yet to be seriously worked.
64 min: Space for Pritchard in the Chelsea box, Norwich having finally turned up for the second half. He turns on a sixpence and gets a shot away, looking for the top right. But it’s deflected over for a corner, which leads to nothing. Still, that’s better from the hosts, and much more like their first-half stylings.
62 min: Some rat-a-tat pinball in the middle of the park. Suddenly the ball breaks to Pritchard, who threatens to break quickly. With no Caballero to calmly deal with the situation (!) Cahill is forced to bring his man down. He takes a booking for the team.
59 min: Free kick for Chelsea out on the right as Lewis clips the ankle of Zappacosta. He’s lucky to escape a booking. Chelsea lump the ball into the box. It’s cleared way upfield, forcing Caballero, who had been wandering a long way from his area, to win a header in the centre circle in order to stop a quick break. Entertaining, if not ideal.
58 min: Willian has the ball glued to the toe of his boot, Charles Charlie Charles style. He sashays down the inside-right channel, past Trybull and Klose, and enters the area with zig-zagging ease. His low fizzer towards the bottom corner isn’t so good, gobbled up easily by Gunn. Shame, that was a mesmeric run.
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56 min: Willian drops a shoulder, George Besting his way left to right across the face of the Norwich area. Eventually he lashes a low shot towards the bottom right. Gunn turns the ball round the post. From the corner, Pedro has a look at the top left from distance. Not quite. But Chelsea are totally on top now. Antonio Conte’s hairdryer must have been turned on full blast.
55 min: Kenedy rambles down the left and lays off for Bakayoko, who attempts to send a heatseeker into the top right. Ambitious. It would have been spectacular.
53 min: Willian romps down the inside-right channel before pulling one back for Drinkwater, just on the edge of the area to the right of the D. Drinkwater isn’t far off threading a fine first-time shot through a crowded area and into the bottom left. Not quite; just wide. Norwich are being made to work a lot harder in this second half.
50 min: Chelsea have come out with renewed purpose. Batshuayi works a little bit of space 25 yards from goal and sends a pea-roller straight into the arms of Gunn. Speaking of renewed purpose, and regarding that £142m half-time breaking news, here’s Grant Tennille, with an email headed Hoochie Coutchie Man: “Barcelona finally nabbed theirs, but it’s worth noting that a shift from Fab Four to trio doesn’t necessarily mean sacrificing power, thrust, and creativity.” Isn’t it a bit early for the bong?
48 min: He gets a cross away now, though! A deep one from the same left flank, Zappacosta heading back across goal from the right. Willian is waiting to sweep home, six yards out, but Zimmermann hacks clear just in time. Fine football all round.
47 min: Some sterile possession for Chelsea in the early stages of the second half. Pedro makes off down the left but can’t get a cross away.
And we’re off! Chelsea get the ball rolling, having been made to wait in the cold by tardy Norwich. No changes.
Half-time breaking news:
HALF TIME: Norwich City 0-0 Chelsea
Maddison circumvents Drinkwater with ease on the edge of the Chelsea box, but then lashes wildly over the bar while looking for the top-left corner. Kenedy tries to skin Pinto down the left, but is ushered out of play. And that’s that. Daniel Farke will be pretty happy with that. Antonio Conte, not so much.
45 min: Luiz tries to get something going for Chelsea in attack, striding forward down the centre of the park and lifting a long pass forward for Kenedy. But that’s easy pickings for Gunn.
43 min: Pritchard flicks and turns past Cahill on the right-hand edge of the Chelsea box. He fires across for Lewis at the far stick, but Zappacosta has read the danger and steps in to concede a corner before his opponent can sidefoot home. The corner comes to nothing.
41 min: Luiz is booked for a late clip on Maddison, who was in the process of nicking a loose ball past him. To be fair to the Chelsea man, there was no malice and he holds his hands up in acknowledgement of his mistimed challenge.
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40 min: Norwich stroke it around nicely, without really going anywhere. The high point: Maddison executing a lovely spin and turn to wriggle out of trouble in the middle of the park. He’s awarded a warm round of applause for that one.
37 min: You can’t quite say Norwich have had their chances. But they’ve had their half-chances. They’ll hope to make another, and take it, before the break, and before Antonio Conte can deliver the bollocking his players are almost certainly going to get.
35 min: Maddison pings a lovely reverse pass down the inside-left channel to release Murphy. Rudiger just about does enough to deal with the situation, sticking with Murphy and pushing him wide left, though the Norwich man is still able to get a shot away. He drags it harmlessly across the front of goal.
34 min: More space for Pedro down the left. He loops long, and Klose is forced to head out for a corner with several Chelsea men buzzing around. Once again, though, the resulting set piece is a waste of time.
32 min: Chelsea have been a bit sleepy for the last few minutes, but it looks as though they’ve woken up a bit. Willian tries to make space to shoot, just inside the Norwich area on the left, but faces three men and is forced to lay off for Kenedy, who squirts a low shot through a crowded box. The ball deflects out for a corner. Kenedy takes it himself, and sends it straight out of play on the left. On the touchline, Antonio Conte threatens to bubble over into Fume Mode.
30 min: A bit of space for Pedro down the left. He lifts one into the area, looking for Batshuayi, but the striker doesn’t show and the ball is aimless, drifting into Gunn’s arms.
28 min: Murphy bombs down the left, spots Caballero off his line, and attempts a spectacular curler into the top right from the edge of the area. It’s wild and high. Norwich are enjoying themselves right now, playing some very entertaining, attacking football.
26 min: Murphy dribbles past Rudiger and into the Chelsea box on the left. He tries to thread a pass through a thicket of black shirts to Pritchard; the ball’s never getting through that forest of legs. Chelsea clear their lines. But Norwich have responded well to that brief period of Chelsea midfield control, and are right back in this game.
24 min: Pritchard, his dander up, comes skittering in from the right wing. He’s got chance to shoot, but opts to look for an even better one, so when he finally gets an effort away, it’s closed down by Cahill.
23 min: Chelsea ping it around the back in the Pep style. Eventually Caballero gives the ball to Luiz on the edge of the box. It’s not a great ball. Also Luiz is dozing. Pritchard, suddenly snapping around Luiz’s ankles, gets a toe on the ball and sends it wide right of the goal. Had that pinged away on target, we’d have an opening goal to report, because Caballero wouldn’t have been able to stop it.
21 min: Willian is once again illegally impeded, hauled back by Klose’s arm on his shoulder. Again the referee makes do with a stern chat. A fair chance that the next foul on a marauding Chelsea player may result in a booking.
20 min: Norwich play some nice pretty triangles down the left, but go nowhere. Progressive tendencies on display.
18 min: Trybull ensures he falls into the back of Willian as the Chelsea winger zips past him. That could have been a booking, but the referee is lenient.
17 min: A good time, then, for Norwich to remind everyone that they’re the home side. Murphy makes good down the left and reaches the Chelsea area. He’s got men in the middle but instead of crossing he looks to diddle Caballero at his near post. That’s not happening.
15 min: A slight lull as Chelsea opt to stroke it around the middle of the park in a sterile fashion. They’re in no rush. But the first sign of Chelsea establishing a smidgen of control on Championship opposition.
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13 min: Pinto looks to be just fine now: he whistles a wonderful crossfield pass, right to left, to release Pritchard into space on the wing. Pritchard can’t get a ball into the box, but Norwich have started this game in a positive and confident fashion, going toe to toe with the champions of England.
12 min: Luiz struts around the centre circle in the imperious style. He floats a gorgeous long quarterback’s pass down the inside-right channel, very nearly releasing Zappacosta into the Norwich area. Just a drop too much juice, and the ball flies out for a goal kick. But Zappacosta was close to gathering that and homing in on goal.
10 min: After a couple of minutes, a slightly groggy Pinto sits up and then wanders to the touchline. He winks at Kenedy - no hard feelings - and waits to be waved back on. He’ll continue.
8 min: Pinto and Kenedy go up together for a high ball. The Chelsea man clatters into the side of his opponent, shoulder meeting head. Pinto is poleaxed, laid out on the floor. On come the doctors.
6 min: Lewis embarks on a rococo ramble down the left, and nearly has the better of Rudiger. Eventually he’s swarmed by black shirts, but for a second it looked as though he might break clear into the area. That was a promising sortie.
4 min: A bit of space opens up for Maddison down the inside-right channel. For a second there’s a huge gap in the centre of the Chelsea defence, and he heads for it. But just as he cocks his leg to shoot, Luiz comes across to block. Great covering. But Maddison hesitated for a split second there, as though he couldn’t believe there was a route to goal opening up.
3 min: Kenedy strides forward from a deep position on the left and decides to have a go for goal from the best part of 35 yards. Nope! His shot is dragged harmlessly wide right. He’s got the good grace to look sheepish. Over-ambitious.
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2 min: A reasonably quiet start, both sides taking turns to get a feel of the ball, stroking it hither and yon.
And we’re off! The hosts get the ball rolling. Chelsea haven’t lost in the third round since Manchester United did for them in 1998. Their fans accordingly are in good voice.
The teams are out! Norwich City in their gloriously traditional yellow and green, Chelsea in a very fetching third-choice black with sky-blue trim. A marvellous atmosphere at Carrow Road, a stadium that always looks stunning under floodlights. We’ll be off in a minute!
Antonio Conte speaks! “Every trophy is important for us. We try to do our best in every competition. For sure we know it won’t be easy against Norwich. We try to make rotations in every game, we have been doing this for a long time. But it is right to give good chances to everyone, and I always get a good answer from my players. It is a good chance for David Luiz, who has had a long recovery from injury. I hope he has a good performance.”
Norwich manager Daniel Farke speaks! “We are looking forward to this game, especially after our decent run in the Carabao Cup. It is important to be realistic. We know that Chelsea is the big favourite. In ten games, eight times they will win the game and one time there will be the draw. But there’s always one game where you can create something special and we have a pretty relaxed situation. We have had a decent run in the league recently, so we will see what happens!”
Pre-match reading: Here’s our man Paul MacInnes on why Norwich, not so long out of the Premier League, could do with a strong second half to their season.
Just the one change to the Norwich XI named for the New Year’s Day win at Carrow Road over Millwall. The attack-minded Nelson Oliveira makes way for the more defensive Christoph Zimmermann; he’s not fit to start but may feature.
Nine changes to the Chelsea team from the side sent out at Arsenal midweek. The big news is the return of David Luiz from injury. Also note Alvaro Morata, on the bench with the kids. Punishment for missing three one-on-ones at the Emirates? Of course not. But maybe.
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The teams
Norwich City: Gunn, Ivo Pinto, Hanley, Klose, Lewis, Tettey, Trybull, Pritchard, Maddison, Zimmermann, Murphy.
Subs: Husband, Vrancic, Oliveira, Watkins, Hoolahan, Wildschut, McGovern.
Chelsea: Caballero, Luiz, Cahill, Rudiger, Zappacosta, Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Kenedy, Willian, Batshuayi, Pedro.
Subs: Morata, Musonda, Clarke-Salter, Eduardo, Ampadu, Sterling, Hudson-Odoi.
Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).
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Preamble
Norwich City have never won the FA Cup. They’ve never even got to the final. Just the three semi-final appearances in 1959, 1989 and 1992. Chelsea by comparison have lifted the famous old pot seven times. Norwich are a mid-table Championship side; Chelsea are the reigning champions of England. Norwich have lost seven of their last 13 games; Chelsea just the one. Norwich have lost all four of their previous FA Cup rubbers with Chelsea; Chelsea are unbeaten in 13 games against Norwich.
But this is the third round of the FA Cup, where dreams can come true and the impossible is occasionally achieved. It, we must therefore conclude, is on. Kick off at Carrow Road is at 5.30pm GMT.
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