Rafael Benítez could have pointed to relatively small details. Such as the fact that if some Newcastle United fans had not wasted time chucking the ball between themselves when it went into the away end at Carrow Road early in the first period, there would not have been so much time added on at the end of that half, time in which Timm Klose scored the opening goal for Norwich. Or the fact that Newcastle found themselves having to deploy Vurnon Anita as their seventh different left-back of the season while Norwich fielded Martin Olsson, a specialist in the position who, in addition to being comfortable in defence, popped up to score the winning goal in the 93rd minute.
But the broader analysis is what most worries Benítez: Norwich won this high-stakes duel because they handled the occasion better than the visitors. And this defeat means the pressure on Newcastle is only going to be higher for the seven matches they have left in which to save their Premier League skin. “We know we have enough quality to play better but when you start making mistakes the pressure is bigger, that is a difficult thing to manage,” said Benítez.
Newcastle started competently at Carrow Road, passing the ball safely as if trying to piece together some confidence. But when Norwich cranked up the tempo, Newcastle started to crumble. They rallied in the second half, especially after the belated introduction of Aleksandar Mitrovic, who cancelled out Klose’s goal with a fine header and then levelled again from the penalty spot after Dieumerci Mbokani had put Norwich back in front. In a panicky last minute, Olsson struck an excellent winning goal.
“We cannot wait for another reaction, we have to start the games in the right way,” said Benítez. “After the game heads were a little bit down and I was telling them we have to manage the momentum of the game much better when we were attacking and in the last minute we have to defend well. That is part of the work I have to do every week, give them some tips and be sure they know what to do when they are under pressure and maybe it is more difficult to think.”
This was Newcastle’s eighth consecutive away defeat so Benítez can at least take heart from the knowledge that four of his team’s remaining matches are at St James’ Park – and one of the away ones is against the pitiful Aston Villa. On Saturday Newcastle host Southampton and Benítez is wary about making make radical changes for that game lest he put further mental strain on his players. “You cannot change everything in a week – the players would be thinking: ‘What is going on?’” he said. “So you have to analyse the games and see if they do something good, then try to stick with these things. If they are confident doing these things it will be easier to win games.”
Alex Neil has no concerns about his Norwich side’s ability to cope with pressure. The manager points out his side have been under the cosh since he took over in January 2015, first to get into the Championship play-offs and navigate their way to the Premier League and then, this season, to stay in the top flight. Neil believes those experiences gave them an edge over Newcastle and will serve them well in the run-in, particularly against the other north-east strugglers, Sunderland.
“At this stage of the season it’s about keeping cool heads and composure, as much as the quality you’ve got in the team,” said Neil. “Since I’ve been here we’ve been used to playing big games. There haven’t been a lot of games that haven’t meant anything. We showed [against Newcastle] we’re up for the fight and will find a way to do whatever it takes to pick up three points. We have to make sure we go to Palace and take something from the game next week and then we’ve got Sunderland, which will be even bigger than the game against Newcastle.”
Klose, whose signing from Wolfsburg in January has gone some way to stabilising Norwich, said: “Some games before we’ve not had luck on our side but this time we did, and it felt fantastic to win the game. I’m very happy at the moment because we’ve got two big wins in our last two games. We’ve got more big games coming up. We want to take points from those as well.”
Olsson, whose goal was his first since September 2014, agreed: “It’s a really good win for us. We were thinking about this game ahead of the international break.
“The only thing we had in our mind was winning. We didn’t want to draw so we went for it at the end and got the luck. I hardly ever score, so it was a great feeling. I didn’t know how to celebrate so I just ran around like a headless chicken.”
Man of the match Timm Klose (Norwich)
