Norwich City managed to hold title aspirants Manchester City to a goalless draw at Carrow Road on Saturday.
It was the Sky Blues who dominated proceedings and had the more chances, but they could not find a way past the Canaries defence. But the best chance of the game fell to Norwich City’s on-loan striker Patrick Bamford, whose volley beat Joe Hart though not the post. The draw was only the second time in 10 games that Alex Neil’s side have avoided defeat and it moved them level on points with 17th place Sunderland, having played a game more than the Black Cats.
City fail to capitalise
Manchester City failed to capitalise on their game in hand over the other top four teams after they shared the spoils at Carrow Road. The Citizens were the only one of the top four to feature in Saturday’s fixtures, with Tottenham and Leicester yet to play, while Arsenal will be featuring in the FA Cup this weekend.
Manuel Pellegrini’s team have now played the same amount of games as their title rivals and currently sit a massive nine points behind leaders Leicester City. Even though City will have a game over the top two after this game week ends, it still leaves them with only nine matches to close the gap, with the hopes that Leicester and Spurs will drop points. Is City’s title challenge already over?
Can the Canaries survive the drop?
Alex Neil’s side might have taken a vital point against Manchester City but that by no means puts them anywhere closer to safety from the drop. Norwich are still in the relegation zone in 18th place and are currently only a point better than Newcastle, having played two games more than the Magpies. It does not look good for Neil and as things stand, it would take a miraculous recovery from them to avoid the drop.
Norwich can consider their next four fixtures to be vital to their season. With a run of reasonably favourable fixtures, the Canaries must aim to take maximum points in at least three of their next four games if they want to stand any shot at remaining in the Premier League next season. They will face away trips to West Brom and Crystal Palace, while they play host to Newcastle and Sunderland.
The home games against fellow relegation battlers are must-win games for the Canaries. The reason why their next four games is so vital is because Neil’s side face a very difficult run following that until the end of the season. They will come up against Watford, Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton in their final four games of the season.
It is surely an uphill task for Norwich, but not an impossible one by any means.
City struggling in attack
Besides having more of the chances in the game, City were still struggling in the final third of the pitch. They lacked creativity, speed, quality and character when they were in attack. While Sergio Aguero looked like he was the only one desperately trying to get a goal, the same cannot be said about his fellow strike partner Wilfried Bony.
The Ivorian has recently returned from injury but that can be no excuse for the performance that he put in. Bony was uncharacteristically poor on the night, barely registering a shot throughout his time on the pitch. City fans will be left pondering as to why youngsters Kelechi Iheanacho and Raheem Sterling were benched over him. The 27-year-old has struggled to find game time and form this season, managing just four league goals so far.
With City’s striking options limited this season, the question remains as to why City let Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic both leave on loan deals at the start of the season.
Manuel Pellegrini might just have to give up chase on the league title now, with the focus now shifting to the Champions league.
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