Jacob Steinberg was at Carrow Road to see Michail Antonio run riot at great expense to Norwich City. Here’s his report of the day the Canaries were officially relegated. Thanks for reading this MBM!
Here’s the extremely content four-goal hero Michail Antonio, clutching his sanitised match ball. “It’s amazing. When I scored the first two I could see they were quite open, so it was a great opportunity. It’s my first-ever ball, and hopefully I can add to it! We’ve been playing free-flowing, attacking football, the gaffer has told me to stay in the box and all my goals have come from in the box. This result eases the pressure massively, and puts the pressure on Bournemouth and Aston Villa. We’ve got a good goal difference over them, so that’s an extra point. We just need to concentrate on ourselves. All the games coming up are cup finals. We believe that we will be safe. We have to keep pushing forward.”
Norwich captain Alexander Tettey - visibly emotional but brutally frank - talks to BT Sport. “It is very hard for me to talk. That was a tough game for us. We tried to be positive, but when we don’t do what we have to do, you get punished. All those four goals: we can’t defend like that. That’s the Premier League: we got punished for every mistake we made. It’s tough. It’s very, very tough. It has been tough to get ourselves going mentally. This club has not been a club that buys well-established players for 40 to 50 million pounds. It is difficult, and you need to be consistent, but we have not done that. We do not have that mentality, that character, that would help us take points and win games. We haven’t had bodies, and it’s been tough for the manager. But it’s a young group and we will take this experience further.”
Commiserations to Norwich City and their supporters. Their players crumple to the floor as one, upset and miserable, heads in hands. Poor Max Aarons looks close to tears. But the club have been here before, and they’ll be back sooner or later. The positive spin: they can look forward to another entertaining season in the Championship, where they’ll no doubt push for an instant return to the top flight. Daniel Farke has the good grace to sportingly offer West Ham his congratulations with a warm, bittersweet smile.
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FULL TIME: Norwich City 0-4 West Ham United
Four-goal Michail Antonio has single-handedly destroyed Norwich City, who are officially relegated from the Premier League as a result. West Ham aren’t mathematically safe themselves, not yet, but they’re so close now and this superb performance will surely fill them with the necessary confidence to get the job done.
90 min +2: BREAKING NEWS: Michail Antonio is named man of the match.
90 min: There will be three added minutes of pain and misery for Norwich City.
89 min: A free kick for Norwich out on the right, and a chance to load the box. Cantwell flays the ball over everyone’s head and straight out for a goal kick. That just about sums it up for the Canaries.
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87 min: Balbuena comes on for Ogbonna.
85 min: The virtual TV crowd have started with the olés. Norwich fans may wish to drown them out with a blast of John Coltrane.
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83 min: Yarmolenko and Masuaku come on for Bowen and Fornals. Bowen will have the headlines stolen from him by Antonio today, of course, but he’s been quietly excellent today. His set-piece deliveries were magnificent.
82 min: Idah attempts to beat Ogbonna in a footrace down the right, but runs the ball out of play. The young man appears desperate to make some sort of valedictory statement to the Premier League, showing the sort of drive sadly lacking today in many of his team-mates.
80 min: Cantwell dribbles in from the left and dinks a cute ball down the channel for Idah, who rolls it across the face of goal. Cresswell clumsily runs it into his own net, but Idah was offside, and Norwich are denied a slapstick consolation.
78 min: Norwich swap Vrancic for McLean.
77 min: The irrepressible Antonio, four goals to his name, is replaced by Haller. The captain Noble also makes way, for Wilshere. Four goals!
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76 min: Norwich are the very picture of collective dejection. West Ham ping it around them mercilessly. The hosts really want to hear that final whistle.
GOAL! Norwich 0-4 West Ham (Antonio 74)
Noble dinks gracefully down the right. Fredericks shrugs off Aarons and enters the box. He slips a pass towards the near post, where the on-fire Antonio flicks home his fourth. What a performance by the West Ham striker!
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72 min: Norwich continue to pass it around, albeit in a slightly listless manner. West Ham seem happy enough to let them do it. Everyone knows the situation here.
70 min: Full of isotonic wonder, the players go again.
68 min: Fornals creams a shot wide right from 25 yards. And that, my friends is drinks. It’s an opportunity for Norwich to make a quadruple substitution. Their entire front line of Pukki, Buendia, Stiepermann and Hernandez is replaced by Martin, Idah, Rupp and Cantwell.
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67 min: Norwich enjoy a rare period of possession, but they go absolutely nowhere. They’re a couple of minutes closer to the final whistle, at least, a sound they’ll be desperately wanting to hear.
65 min: West Ham stroke it around in the manner of a team who have bossed it from the get-go.
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64 min: Antonio glides down the right. He’s got options in the middle, and Norwich are light at the back, but hesitates and allows Tettey to intercept.
63 min: Buendia shoots. It’s blocked. Aarons then curls in from the right and finds Vrancic, who can’t get over the ball and heads harmlessly wide right. This is a little better from Norwich, though, who are playing now for nothing but pride.
61 min: A shot in anger from Norwich, as Stiepermann bustles down the middle and feeds Hernandez, who drops a shoulder and fires low and hard towards the bottom left. A decent effort, but one that’s easily snaffled by Fabianski.
60 min: Cresswell is put in on the overlap down the left by Fornals. He whips to the near post, where Antonio nearly snaffles his fourth. This could get ugly for Norwich unless they snap out of their collective funk.
58 min: On the touchline, Daniel Farke looks thoroughly defeated. Instructively, he didn’t talk to his players at all during the first-half drinks break, a period that effectively doubles as a tactical time-out. His team are putting in a low-energy performance to match.
56 min: This is going to be a long second half for Norwich, who will be playing in the Championship next season.
GOAL! Norwich 0-3 West Ham (Antonio 54)
Norwich are split in two by a simple chip down the middle by Noble. Antonio is clear! He looks to guide a shot into the bottom right. Krul saves, but the ball balloons up. Antonio loops a header over the prone keeper and into the empty net. And, easy as that, Antonio has his first professional hat-trick! He deserves it, not just for his efforts today, but for his uniformly excellent performances since the restart.
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53 min: Antonio and Bowen are linking up delightfully this afternoon. A crisp combination out on the right touchline draws a foul from Vrancic. Bowen whips the free kick into the box. Antonio, who is after his first professional hat-trick, flashes a header over the bar from eight yards.
51 min: Fredericks barrels down the right and is nudged over by Lewis just before he reaches the box. A free kick, just to the side of the area. Noble makes to swing it into the mixer before pulling a cute one back for Rice. Nice idea, but Rice swishes wildly at the ball and doesn’t connect properly. Norwich, having been caught sleeping, breathe a sigh of relief.
49 min: Vrancic and Lewis combine down the left to win a corner. The former delivers straight into the arms of Fabianski.
48 min: Lewis has been doing his level best to make things happen, though. He tears down the left and sends in yet another dangerous cross, but there’s nobody in the middle making a run for him. Ogbonna clears easily enough.
47 min: ... and Norwich, who have already conceded from two set pieces, don’t defend this one well either. Diop flicks on at the near post again. The ball’s half cleared, but Bowen is afforded a shot from the edge of the box. He blasts over. Norwich appear to have given up.
46 min: The Hammers are immediately on the attack, Noble winning a corner off Klose down the right. One Bowen corner leads to another ...
West Ham get the second half underway. No half-time changes.
While we pause ... let’s take a moment to celebrate Jack Charlton, who passed away today. This is a lovely collection of snaps that chronicle a life enjoyed to the full.
HALF TIME: Norwich City 0-2 West Ham United
Unless this timid Norwich City side do something they haven’t done all season - retrieve a losing situation - their status as a Championship side in waiting will be confirmed in the next hour. West Ham have been good value for their two-goal lead, and while their survival can’t be secured today, they could be taking a big stride towards it this afternoon.
45 min +3: Antonio flicks Fornals into space down the left. He dinks in to the middle. The ball’s worked to the right by Noble for Fredericks, who whacks a rising shot over the bar from a tight angle. Norwich go straight up the other end, Buendia turning inside from the right and curling towards the top left. Fabianski is all over it.
GOAL! Norwich 0-2 West Ham (Antonio 45+1)
Noble floats it in. Antonio rises highest, with Klose and Godfrey challenging weakly, and guides a gentle header into the top right. Easy as that.
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45 min: Buendia bowls Noble to the ground out on the right. Another free kick in a dangerous area.
44 min: Klose is down in agony having accidentally kicked Bowen while hoofing a clearance upfield. He’s good to go after a bit of rolling around.
42 min: One corner leads to another, then Ogbonna clumsily clatters Klose and the pressure on Norwich is released.
41 min: Noble curls in from a deep position on the right. Soucek, on the penalty spot, swivels and wheechs a volley towards the top right. It’s a fine effort, but it’s matched by an equally good save, Krul tipping over the bar.
40 min: Stiepermann gets a yard on Fredericks down the left, and crosses low. It’s a dangerous ball ... or it would be, but nobody in yellow has taken a chance. No runners, no shot, and it’s an easy mop-up job for the West Ham defence.
38 min: Noble loops the free kick deep. Soucek gets a head to it at the far post, but the ball’s too high for him to connect properly, and sails out harmlessly for a goal kick.
37 min: Fornals works his way down the left and is nicked from behind by Buendia. A free kick to the side of a Norwich box suddenly loaded with hungry West Ham players.
36 min: West Ham nearly add insult to injury through Bowen, who powers into the Norwich box down the right and thrashes a shot across Krul and inches wide of the top left.
35 min: Fredericks and Bowen confuse each other in midfield, allowing Pukki to skitter down the middle of the park at speed. He falls just before the box, and wants a free kick for a light grab by Soucek, but he’s not getting the decision. He’s unfortunate; the whistle should have gone.
33 min: West Ham are inches away from a second. Stiepermann checks Bowen illegally, but that doesn’t stop his ball down the left channel squirming through to Antonio, who immediately lays off to Bowen. A touch to the left takes Bowen into the area and he lashes a low diagonal shot wide of the right-hand post. That was a lovely move, a great effort. Once it’s done, Stiepermann is booked for his cynical challenge.
32 min: Vrancic hoicks one over the wall, with a view to finding the top right. But he’s hoicked it over the bar as well. Always rising, it was never coming back down.
31 min: Vrancic sashays down the inside right channel and is brought down unceremoniously by Fornals, 25 yards from goal. A free kick in a dangerous position.
30 min: Hernandez flicks out wide left for Lewis, who whips it back immediately. Hernandez can’t quite wrap his foot around the ball, sending his snapshot from six yards wide left. Norwich are finally gaining a foothold in this match.
28 min: Antonio wins a duel with Klose out on the right, and that’s a free kick near the corner flag. Bowen tries a Reverse Konchesky, looking to send the set piece along a similar arc to the one the titular Paul scored with in the 2006 FA Cup final, albeit from the other flank. This one’s always heading over, though.
27 min: Another decent cross from the left by Lewis, who is beginning to offer Norwich some options in attack. But nobody in yellow can get a header in. Better, though.
26 min: Everyone refreshed, full of bevvy, the game restarts.
24 min: Lewis romps up the other end and crosses from the left. Pukki tries to guide a header into the top left from close range but it’s always heading wide. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is drinks.
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22 min: A simple ball down the middle nearly does for Norwich. Antonio gets in ahead of Klose and prepares to shoot from the edge of the box, but Lewis comes across to help. Antonio cleverly backheels to Bowen, in close attendance, but the resulting poke towards goal is weak and spins away from the danger zone.
20 min: Antonio has an acrobatic dig from distance. Then the rest of the team draw some pretty triangles around the pitch. Norwich are chasing shadows.
18 min: So having said that - another Pulitzer, please! - Buendia flicks a clever pass down the inside-left channel and nearly releases Hernandez, who is beaten to the ball by Fabianski, though there’s only a couple of nanoseconds in it. Buendia doesn’t half carve out some chances, and in a struggling team to boot.
17 min: A series of West Ham throws down the left. Suddenly Antonio and Fornals exchange quick passes and nearly break into the Norwich box. Not quite. The hosts are struggling to get out of their half right now.
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15 min: Strange to think Norwich asked a few questions of Liverpool at Anfield on the opening day of the season, and later beat Manchester City. It’s a thin line between success and failure in the Premier League all right.
13 min: Norwich haven’t won a single point from a losing position this season. Unless they buck that miserable trend, they’ll be relegated in a couple of hours. Mind you, West Ham have shipped 24 points from winning positions during this campaign, so all might not be lost quite yet.
GOAL! Norwich 0-1 West Ham (Antonio 11)
Bowen swings it in. Diop flicks on at the near post. It falls to Antonio at the far post. He swivels, shoots from six yards ... and roofs it. West Ham deserve the early breakthrough.
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11 min: Cresswell, on the left touchline, whips towards Antonio at the near post, six yards out. Antonio sticks out an instinctive toe, which Krul does well to turn around the post. A corner on the left leads to a corner on the right, from which ...
10 min: Norwich finally put something together. Hernandez works down the inside right and cuts a ball back for Stiepermann, whose sidefoot from six yards is blocked at source. Norwich come again, teeing up Vrancic, 20 yards out. He slaps a low shot wide right.
8 min: Soucek tries to thread a forensic shot into the bottom right from the edge of the box. It flies inches wide of the post. Not sure Krul was getting to that.
7 min: Vrancic, in a pocket of space, waves his arms around, asking where the options are. Up front, Pukki throws irritated shapes, having not been spotted by Vrancic. Norwich are a study in frustration right now.
5 min: West Ham hog the ball. They’re faster to everything. Plenty of movement all round. They’re clearly in the mood to take a huge step to survival this afternoon.
3 min: West Ham look really sharp in these early exchanges. Antonio dribbles infield from the left and rather scuffs his shot, which looks like harmlessly running into the arms of Krul. But Soucek nips in first, and attempts to round the keeper and flick home from a very tight angle on the left. He can only slap the ball into the side netting, but that was neat play from the visitors.
2 min: Norwich keep hold of the ball for a bit. Pukki tries to release Hernandez down the middle, quarterbacking from deep, but there’s a bit too much juice on the pass. Then West Ham launch their first sortie, the increasingly impressive Bowen powering down the inside-right channel and into the Norwich box. Just as it looks as though things are opening up for a shot, and under pressure from Buendia, he overruns the ball. Goal kick. A lively start.
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Norwich get the ball rolling ... but only after all players take a knee of respect, solidarity and love. Black lives matter.
A moment of silence in loving memory of Big Jack. This heartwarming piece by Paul Doyle is very much worth your time.
If Daniel Farke spoke, your trusty MBM hack must have missed it. Send complaints, lawsuits, Pulitzer Prizes, etc., to the usual address. Meanwhile the teams are out! Norwich wear canary yellow and green, West Ham troop out in claret and blue. We’ll be off in a minute!
The vaulting ambition of David Moyes, as told to BT Sport. “It’s a big opportunity. It’s one of a run of games where we felt we have chances to pick up points, so we have to try to do that today. Fight has been in abundance, but we need a little more quality. More quality in our finishing, we really should have got more than nothing against Burnley, but the other side is that we make sure we don’t concede any goals, and if we do that, we’ve got a great chance of staying up.”
Keeping Things In Perspective dept., with Phil Withall. “I’ve long since come to terms with the inevitability of Norwich’s return to the Championship, the fact it is happening in July is an unexpected bonus. It has, however, got me thinking about the club’s place in the football hierarchy. This has led me to conclude that the period between 1984 and 1994 will probably be as good as it ever gets for us. Yes, there were relegations, off-field unrest and financial turmoil, but it was also a period of cups, titles, record league placings and European football. Tonight, irrespective of the result, I’ll have a glass of wine, toast the squad and enjoy the memories of the season, remembering that this is probably as good as it gets.”
Norwich name an unchanged side from the XI named for the 2-1 loss at Watford. West Ham make one change, captain Mark Noble replacing Chelsea match-winner Andriy Yarmolenko, who drops to the bench. Normally this sort of as-you-were news would be filed under our If It Ain’t Broke banner, but, well, y’know.
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The teams
Norwich City: Krul, Aarons, Godfrey, Klose, Lewis, Vrancic, Tettey, Buendia, Stiepermann, Hernandez, Pukki.
Subs: Rupp, Cantwell, Trybull, Drmic, McLean, Duda, McGovern, Idah, Martin.
West Ham United: Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Bowen, Noble, Fornals, Antonio.
Subs: Balbuena, Yarmolenko, Lanzini, Wilshere, Haller, Masuaku, Ajeti, Randolph, Johnson.
Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire).
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Preamble
Let’s face it. Norwich City - and their fans can send gifts of thanks to the usual address if this somehow tempts fate - are going down. They’re on a six-game losing streak, and defeat here this lunchtime will see them cashiered straight back to the Championship. It’s really not looking good for Daniel Farke’s pretty but lightweight side.
But it’s not as though West Ham are out of the woods either. They may be three points above the relegation zone, with a far healthier goal difference than 18th-placed Bournemouth, but they’ve lost nine of their last 14 league matches, and the thrill of their recent 3-2 victory over Chelsea is all but gone, after twice shipping the lead at Newcastle, then going down meekly at home to Burnley. Once today is out of the way, two of their last three matches are against fellow relegation battlers - Watford and Aston Villa - while the other is at super-hot Manchester United. They could really do with a result that would relieve a lot of the pressure they’ll be feeling now.
West Ham are favourites to get one. Partly because they won the reverse fixture 2-0 at the London Stadium, partly because they’re not in such a bad place as the Canaries, with more potential match-winners in their squad. But then Norwich, almost certainly doomed, will be playing with the brakes off, pressure not so much of an issue for them any more. Nobody expects. Oh, and West Ham haven’t won in the league at Carrow Road since February 1973, 47 long years ago. So nothing’s certain.
Kick off’s at 12.30pm BST. Don’t miss a kick! It’s on!
