Read Barney Ronay’s match report below …
That was a really impressive performance from Sunderland, even if the scoreline flatters them a touch. There was plenty of controversy, but Sunderland controlled the match as it progressed – Cattermole was immense – and crackled with menace on the break. Norwich weren’t terrible, far from it, but conceding just before and after half-time sapped their confidence. Thanks for your company; bye!
Full time: Norwich 0-3 Sunderland
That’s it. Sunderland move to within a point of Norwich, and with a game in hand.
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90+4 min “Did anyone see that?” says somebody who didn’t sign their email. “Camera showed the crowd and in the bottom left of the screen there was a Norwich fan knitting!!”
90+3 min It’s far from beyond the realms that this could go to goal difference, so that third goal might be more than a piece of icing. If this match was a six-pointer, that that’s worth two goals!
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Norwich were trying to push up after a Sunderland attack when the ball came to Larsson, 30 yards from goal. He played a clever angled pass towards Watmore that took out the defence, and Watmore swerved round Ruddy before hitting a left-footed shot from a tight angle that deflected into the net off Ruddy’s outstretched hand.
GOAL! Norwich 0-3 Sunderland (Watmore 90+1)
That’s it! Duncan Watmore seals a huge win for Sunderland.
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89 min Yet another penalty appeal! Defoe ran on to a huge hoof from the keeper, and was challenged by Olsson as he tried to get the bouncing ball under control. I don’t think that was a penalty. Just before that, Wisdom went down after a strong block tackle – I’m not sure who it was, possibly Cattermole, but I’d like to see that again as it looked painful.
87 min Redmond, who has been excellent, finds Hoolahan and he helps it on for the onrushing O’Neil at the edge of the box. As O’Shea flies in, O’Neil crashes a first-time shot high over the bar.
86 min Hoolahan’s nice pass finds Jerome on the right of the area, and he screws a cross shot miles over the bar.
85 min Another Sunderland substitution, with John O’Shea replacing the excellent Kirchhoff.
83 min Norwich appeal for a penalty when Bassong falls over in the box. Cattermole did put his hand on Bassong’s back, which was silly, though it probably wasn’t enough to knock him over.
82 min Redmond’s corner bounces up and is headed towards goal by Howson. Mannone would have had it covered but Cattermole lumped it clear anyway.
81 min Redmond’s fierce rising shot is tipped over by Mannone. It was too straight to really trouble Mannone but well struck. The resulting corner is flicked on by Bennett, all the way across the box and out for a goalkick.
78 min Almost a third for Sunderland. Defoe’s high-class angled through pass – he’s not just a pretty good goalscorer – puts Watmore clear on goal. He tries to go round Ruddy but overruns it after an unwitting second touch and it goes out for a goal-kick.
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77 min If it stays like this, Sunderland will be a point behind Norwich with a game in hand. They have similar run-ins and both play Arsenal next. At the same time, which is a bit weird.
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75 min It’s gone a little quiet. Norwich need something, even a missed chance, to get the fans going. As the commentators have said on BT Sport, Kirchhoff and Cattermole have been extremely good in midfield today.
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73 min Norwich’s final substitution: Cameron Jerome replaces Naismith.
72 min Right here, right now, 12.47 per cent of Norwich fans are uttering the phrase “If we get one...”
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70 min “Sunderland are surely dead certainties to stay up from here, they’ve been playing consistently well in recent weeks without reward,” says Patrick Wills. “Norwich having to travel to the Emirates and host Man United back to back could well sap their confidence and give Sunderland a lead you can’t see them relinquishing.”
68 min Wisdom and Van Aanholt have a bit of an off-the-ball contretemps, prompting Andre Marriner to rollock them both.
67 min Another Sunderland substitution: Larsson on, M’Vila off.
66 min Defoe now knows how Borini felt in the 58th minute. Watmore and Defoe broke two-on-one, but Watmore tried to go alone and the danger passed, to Defoe’s considerable chagrin. This is breathless stuff.
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65 min Two more clearances off the line by Sunderland! I thought Mannone was fouled as he came for a free-kick, but play continued and Mbokani headed the loose ball towards goal. It was headed off the line, and then the follow-up was sneaking in the corner before Cattermole cleared off the line for the second time in three minutes. He celebrated that as if he had scored.
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63 min Cattermole clears off the line! Mbokani was through on goal, but Kone stretched to take some of the heat off his shot before it bobbled past Mannone. It would still have gone in had Cattermole not got back to boot clear. Moments later there’s another appeal for a penalty, this time for a push on Mbokani by Kaboul. I don’t think it was a foul.
63 min “Afternoon Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “Hibs could have played me in goal, never mind MVG lookalike Conrad Logan, given the lack of cutting edge Dundee United are currently displaying.”
62 min Norwich are putting Sunderland under a bit of pressure now, and Wisdom’s mishit cross would have sneaked in had Mannone not leapt to flap it over the bar.
60 min Norwich appeal for a penalty when Mbokani goes down in the area under pressure from Kaboul. That’s hard to call. Kaboul did pull him at one stage, and it was a few seconds later that Mbokani went down, having tried to stay on his feet. I’m not sure whether the first contact – which I suspect was a foul – was inside the box.
60 min Wes Hoolahan replaces the disappointing Matt Jarvis.
59 min Crikey, it’s all happening. Olsson and Cattermole are both booked for bad tackles.
58 min Sunderland break, and Defoe has a great chance to find Borini in space in the area. Instead he tries to wriggle clear to set up a shot and loses the ball. Borini is rightly irritated because he had almost the entire box to himself and there was an easy pass on for Defoe.
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57 min Redmond hammers an inswinging free-kick from the right with such force that it’s on Naismith too quickly and he can only head it straight up in the air. Then...
56 min “Please tell David Crosweller that law 12 states that a direct free kick or penalty is given if a player tackles an opponent ‘in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force’,” says John Beaven. “Totally irrelevant whether he touched the ball first or not. Maybe you could also tell him to learn the rules and stop making himself look stupid...”
Unlike Guardian writers, I’m sure he’ll be able to admit he was wrong.
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55 min Interestingly, Howard Webb thinks Kirchhoff fouled Bassong as he nicked the ball off him in the build-up to the goal. There was a tangle of legs, so you can see what he means. I can see both sides!
53 min Everybody said Norwich would miss Klose, and his replacement Bassong was badly at fault for the goal. He was faffing inexplicably 40 yards from goal, and Kirchhoff nicked the ball off him before playing it down the right to Borini. He passed a brilliant first-time cross into the corridor of uncertainty, and Defoe at the far post stretched to poke it in from six yards.
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GOAL! Norwich 0-2 Sunderland (Defoe 53)
Jermaine Defoe has made it 2-0!
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49 min “Afternoon Rob,” says James Crane. “With reference to shoving/Big Sam/up-with-this-kind-of-thing ness; in today’s other lunchtime kickoff at Hampden Park, Hibs are giving a debut to the wonderfully Falstaffian figure of Conrad Logan - always good to see characters like these share the stage with the ultra-bots that usually play at the top level of the game (ok, this is Scottish football, but you get my point). Do you/the readers have a particular favourite footballer of ’stature’?”
This is one of the joys of Payet, although nobody will ever top Puskas.
48 min Redmond hits the post! That was a superb effort, a fierce, bouncing shot with his right foot from 25 yards that beat the diving Mannone and hit the outside of the left post.
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47 min A fast start from Norwich, who win a couple of corners in the first 78 seconds of the half.
“Watching this game in Delhi,” says Richard. “Lifelong Canaries fan. Not happening for Nasmith - get him off. He is a yard off the pace and does not look bothered. Given the ball away every time in the first half. Redmond or Hoolahan must come on.” Hoolahan is a lovely player; why isn’t he starting?
46 min Norwich begin the second half. Both teams have made substitutions: Duncan Watford for Wahbi Khazri, and Nathan Redmond for Robbie Brady. Khazri was on a yellow card and looking a bit overzealous.
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“No, he gets the ball first, that is the rule,” says World Cup final referee David Crosweller. “Ball first, what happens next is not designed to prove you are right. Typical Guardian response to email/tweet. Never able to admit you are wrong.”
Bloody hell. Send me your address and I’ll send you the laws of the game for Christmas.
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More importantly, Luke Haines did crash Glenn Hoddle’s resignation speech.
“I am an Arsenal supporter, so no emotional link in the Norwich vs Sunderland game,” says David Crosweller. “The defender clearly gets the ball first. No penalty. Not sure how you can see anything different.” That’s irrelevant when you go over the top with your studs showing.
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Half-time emails
“G’Day Rob,” says Wiz Khalifa. “I can see the tweet already: Steve Bruce, 17 shoves as player, 6 as manger. Pushy.”
“As usual I am catching live updates from Kenya in a small town called Bomet,” says Timothy Korir. “I am loving the Norwich vs Sunderland game. Football is awesome.”
“It was mad that Tony Blair got Hoddle the sack for holding crazy religious beliefs,” says Niall Mullen, even supplying relevant links here and here.
Hang on, wasn’t there some farce involving Hoddle’s departure and Luke Haines? Or have I been eating too much cheese again?
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Half time: Norwich 0-1 Sunderland
The half-time whistle brings misplaced boos and a chant of “you’re not fit to referee”. Andre Marriner’s brilliant decision to award a penalty allowed Fabio Borini to put Sunderland ahead in a taut match. See you in 10 minutes!
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45+2 min We normally say this about a team who are under pressure, but Andre Marriner needs half-time here. When he gets in, he will see a replay and know it was a great decision. At the moment he must have doubts, especially as the Norwich fans are appealing for anything.
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45+2 min Sunderland look dangerous now. Defoe, just inside the box on the left, takes him time and picks up Borini, whose first-time shot from 25 yards is high over the bar.
45 min There will be two added minutes. Borini shoots wide from 20 yards, though he’d already been flagged offside.
44 min “If I was a Norwich player now,” says Robbie Savage, “I’d be onto the referee after every challenge.” Fair play, Rob.
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It was an excellent penalty, sidefooted at pace into the bottom-left corner. Ruddy went the right way but couldn’t get there. The Norwich fans are booing but they’ll change their mind when they see the replay. In fact, Wisdom could even have been sent off for going over the top of the ball. The fact he got a small piece of the ball was thus irrelevant, and his studs plunged into the top of Borini’s foot. He was booked. “Any higher and it was a red card,” says Howard Webb.
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GOAL! Norwich 0-1 Sunderland (Borini 41 pen)
Borini scores!
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Sunderland broke two on four. Defoe found Borini with a long cross from the right, and when Borini came back inside he ran into Wisdom. At first it seemed Wisdom had won the ball, and Borini had just bounced off him, but replays showed he went over the ball. That’s a brilliant decision by Andre Marriner.
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PENALTY TO SUNDERLAND!
Oh, this is controversial.
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38 min “Not defending the witch-hunt but saying that disabled people brought it on themselves in a previous life is pretty bad,” says Nick. “Imagine saying the same about an oppressed minority being to blame for their circumstances. Being entitled to a belief has nowt to do with it.”
I agree but I do think that, had he made the comments a year earlier, he wouldn’t have been sacked.
36 min Cattermole wins two tackles, keeps running and then, under a fair bit of pressure, spanks Wisdom’s cross over the bar on the half-volley. He has had a superb game.
34 min “Mention of player personal hygiene reminds me I happened to be staying in the same hotel as Man City when they were practicing at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey in July 2014,” says the precise David Hunter. “My most distinct memory is of riding in the lift and getting an overwhelming whiff of whatever ‘product’ they had used while or after showering. I guess that’s what made them the champs.”
At least it wasn’t the late 1970s. When Graeme Souness used aftershave, his room-mate Kenny Dalglish “thought I was a poof”.
31 min Norwich started well but it’s a lot closer now, and the crowd already sound a bit nervous. Khazri is booked for a bad tackle on O’Neil.
29 min “As player and manager do you know whether Big Sam holds the record for shoving top-flight players?” asks Dan Friedman. I’ll get the Opta boys on the case.
27 min Another save from Mannone. Olsson whistles a storming long-range shot towards goal, and Mannone reaches up to his right to palm it over. It was a relatively comfortable save but a brilliant strike.
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26 min Mannone makes an important save from his team-mate Kaboul. It came from a terrific low cross by Jarvis, into the corridor of uncertainty. Kaboul had to go for it and unwittingly diverted it towards goal, where Mannone reacted superbly to save.
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22 min “For the record and on your point, what a shame for Hoddle, who was onto something special back then,” says Vinny Maddage. “The media almost single-handedly destroyed Hoddle. Footballers and the professionals in the game say and do far worse than Hoddle did in ’99 yet we’ve crucified him for what is a perfectly entitled and well respected (by many in the world) view and belief. By the same standards, footballers who take drugs, commit adultery and far worse (of which there are many in the game today) should be sacked too?”
Oh it was ridiculous, and clearly just an excuse to get rid of him. The only thing I would say is that it seemed like he’d lost the dressing-room by then, and England started their Euro 2000 campaign terribly. It’s a shame because, although his man-management was naive at times, England were a bloody good side at France 98, certainly better than any England side since then. And Hoddle gave a masterclass during that Argentina game.
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21 min Cattermole’s beautiful reverse pass towards Defoe tempts Ruddy from his line. Defoe gets the first, on the left corner of the box, and fronts up Ruddy before trying to find a team-mate, possibly M’Vila, on the edge of the box. The covering Howson gets there first and Norwich are able to clear.
20 min Sunderland are coming into the game a bit more, and Borini almost latches on to a loose ball in the box.
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19 min “Have a Guardian writer over to the house?” sniffs Hubert O’Hearn. “Sounds a fine deal, but who to choose? As iIm in Ireland it would make sense to request Berry Glendenning or Paul Doyle – at least they’d be able to find the house – but a question occurs. Does the writer bring his/her own beer? Or may I ask for a list of teetotal Guardian writers? Oh stop laughing...”
You’d be surprised. They’ve even stopped serving Hofmeister in the canteen.
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18 min Sunderland almost steal the lead. A free-kick was lumped forward to the edge of the box, where Kirchhoff won it in the air. It came to Borini, at a very tight angle on the right of the box, and he drove a cross-shot just wide of the far post and just in front of the stretching Defoe.
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17 min Another corner to Norwich, who have been much the better side so far. Brady curls it beyond the far post and it’s headed behind for another corner, this time on the left. It’s headed clear.
15 min Kirchhoff is penalised for a tackle on Naismith just past the halfway line. That’s an important battle today.
14 min Brady’s deep cross is headed towards goal by Mbokani, but he can’t get any power on it and Mannone makes a comfortable save.
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12 min Glenn Hoddle, the BT Sport co-commentator, has already made four or five excellent tactical points – the sort somebody who hasn’t played would never pick up. He could have been one of the great coaches.
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10 min Kirchhoff receives the ball 45 yards out, passes it straight out of play for a goalkick. Jermain Defoe’s face is a picture.
8 min “Good positive start from Norwich,” says Robbie Savage. “62 per cent possession...” Jeez, they got Robbie too.
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6 min A Norwich corner on the right is drilled flat to Howson, in space on the edge of the box. He sidefoots a slightly meek volley that is blocked by Yedlin. But it’s all Norwich just now and moments later Brady forces a routine tumbling save from Mannone with a shot from 25 yards.
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5 min “Thanks for posting that, Rob,” says Martin Stannard. “I suppose they could just put the whole table there and be done with it..... who has the time to click, for goodness sake?”
We’re actually beta-testing a new service where a Guardian writer comes round to your house and is your servant for the day. They click links for you, they do a bespoke MBM in your preferred tone. How much does it cost? Oh it’s free.
It was Cameron Jerome, the Norwich sub, who Allardyce shoved. Great stuff, we want more of this in football. Yedlin is okay, although his head did hit the board with a thump.
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Yedlin was shoved into the advertising boards by Brady, and moments later Sam Allardyce was squaring up to and shoving a couple of Norwich players.
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3 min It’s kicking off!
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2 min An early chance for Norwich. A free-kick from the left was flicked on by Naismith and eventually came to Bennett, who had an open goal six yards out but couldn’t reach the ball properly with his outstretched foot. He ended up stabbing it across goal and Yedlin welted it clear. Turns out Bennett was offside.
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1 min Sunderland kick off from right to left. They are in red and white; Norwich are in yellow and green.
A plug for something I co-wrote department
Here come the players. Some of the Sunderland fans are engaging in pneumonic banter and have come topless.
“Just wondering if it wouldn’t be a good idea to put the bottom half of the table next to the commentary of a relegation battle instead of the top half...” says Martin Stannard. “But the guys who design the Grauniad website don’t think like that, do they?”
Who said it was designed by men? Or are you using ‘guys’ in the Friends sense? Why am I asking these questions anyway? (It’s automated, and I assume it would be tricky to program it to show the top or bottom half depending on who is playing. You can get the full table with just one click, though.)
“Good morning from Belize, Rob!” says David Hilmy. “Not yet mentioned but just as relevant to this match, if Norwich earn at least a point this morning, Villa are relegated.”
I find the extent of the focus on when Villa will be officially relegated a bit strange. Last week many reports sai Villa’s relegation was “all but confirmed” by their defeat to Bournemouth, which was kind of true. But then it was all but confirmed about four months ago.
In other news, you’re in Belize. I hate you.
It’s nice to cover Norwich games, not least because Dan Brigham does our work for us. His Little Yellow Bird Project has a fine preview of the game here.
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Team news
Some news is bad news for Norwich: Timm Klose is unfit, so Sebastien Bassong replaces him. That’s the only change on either side.
Norwich City (4-2-3-1) Ruddy; Wisdom, Bennett, Bassong, Olsson; Howson, O’Neil; Jarvis, Naismith, Brady; Mbokani.
Substitutes: Rudd, Jerome, Hoolahan, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Redmond, Pinto.
Sunderland (4-1-4-1) Mannone; Yedlin, Kone, Kaboul, van Aanholt; Kirchhoff; Borini, Cattermole, M’Vila, Khazri; Defoe.
Substitutes: Pickford, Jones, O’Shea, Larsson, Toivonen, Watmore, N’Doye.
Preamble Whaddaya hear, whaddaya say? This might be the biggest game between Norwich and Sunderland since the 1985 League Cup final*, when David Corner’s decision not to concede a throw-in proved extremely costly for Sunderland and the ginger community. Both sides were eventually relegated that season – Norwich with 49 points – and, while that could still happen in 2015-16, the likelihood is that only one will go. This match is, if not quite a relegation decider, then at least a relegation suggester.
Norwich are four points clear of Sunderland, having played a game more. Their last home game, the 3-2 win over Newcastle, was an orgy of onychophagy. The need of both sides is such that we should not be surprised if there is more demented drama today. And if we could have a goal as good as Marco Gabbiadini’s at Carrow Road 25 seasons ago, that’d be just swell.
Kick off is at 12.45pm in both Norwich and Sunderland.
* You could make a case for the 1992 FA Cup semi-final as well.
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