Norwich City’s frailties in defence reared their ugly head once more away at Watford, the Canaries collapsing at Vicarage Road as Yaser Asprilla’s late strike secured a 3-2 win for the Hornets who found themselves remarkably 2-0 down after 12 minutes.
David Wagner’s men were calamitous at the back all night, George Long in-between the sticks for the Yellows let down by a shaky backline at times but the former Millwall goalkeeper didn’t cover himself in glory either – spilling a Wesley Hoedt effort late on for Asprilla to then score the decisive winner on the rebound.
Wagner is now left in limbo once more about his future as Norwich manager, but the under-pressure German boss is only partly responsible for his side’s capitulation versus the Hornets.
It was a poor overall team display from the short-on-confidence Canaries that lost the game also, only redeemed by one or two players having bright games to make the scoreline as tight as it was.
Norwich’s game in numbers
On another occasion, Watford could have romped home to a comprehensive victory on their own patch. Valérien Ismaël’s side had a far superior xG over the full 90 minutes compared to the lacklustre visitors, Watford coming in at a 1.59 xG as per Sofascore whilst Norwich’s total falls flat at a lesser 0.59 xG.
Both teams considerably outperformed their expected goals therefore, Hwang Ui-jo’s wonder goal for the visitors a bolt from the blue that helped Wagner’s men race into a surprise 2-0 lead early on – Hwang’s effort cannoning into the net unexpectedly, the Norwich away faithful in shock that the shot had even gone in.
That was a rare moment of joy for the visiting side however, the away supporters watching on painfully for most of the contest after this as their beloved team ended up surrendering a two goal lead.
Watford did control proceedings for large parts of the game, notching up 21 shots in total on Long’s goal whilst also dominating possession with 66% of the ball.
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Hwang might have stolen the headlines with his outrageous goal for the Canaries despite the loss, but his strike partner in Adam Idah had a night to forget against Watford with the Canaries lacking firepower for the majority of the contest after the South Korean’s long-range strike.
Adam Idah’s game in numbers
Norwich’s number 11 was ineffective as a lone striker against the Hornets, hauled off by his manager just after the hour mark after an unimpressive showing.
Idah couldn’t get another goal to add to his Championship tally for the season, the Republic of Ireland international on five goals for the campaign.
The 22-year-old only managed one shot on target before being substituted off, Ryan Porteous and Hoedt at the back for the hosts easily dealing with Idah.
Adam Idah vs Watford | |
|---|---|
Minutes Played | 67 |
Touches | 13 |
Accurate Passes | 5/6 (83%) |
Shots on target | 1 |
Expected Goals (xG) | 0.08 |
Duels Won | 1/7 |
Possession Lost | x4 |
Fouls | 2 |
Key Passes | 0 |
Stats via Sofascore. | |
The striker was bullied by the physical Watford defenders all night too, losing 87.5% of his duels to the detriment of his team going forward.
It even led to Pink Un football journalist Samuel Seaman rating Idah’s display as a 5/10 in his post-match thoughts, a sub-par showing from the Norwich academy talent turned seasoned first-team forward.
If Wagner remains in his job to oversee Norwich’s next match away at Bristol City, Idah will be anxious that he could be dropped from the starting line-up at Ashton Gate after such an anonymous display.
The German boss will pray that star-man Hwang coming off with an injury after 17 minutes doesn’t mean he’s out for a significant amount of time, or he might well be forced into sticking with his misfiring Irish attacker up top.
