Rovers saw their run of 4 wins end at the home of Daniel Farke’s Norwich City, as the Canaries rounded up their extraordinary season with the victory they needed to secure their promotion back to the Premier League, after a 3-year absence.
The penultimate Rovers line-up of the season saw a pair of changes to the team that eased past Bolton on Easter Monday with a 2-0 victory. Ryan Nyambe and Monday’s goalscorer, Ben Brereton were withdrawn to the bench, as Elliott Bennett returned to captain the side, whilst Danny Graham assumed position as the Rovers spearhead, up front.
As nigh-on 700 Rovers fans were housed in the South stand, they looked on as Bradley Dack began the game, in-front of the Sky Sports cameras, as Tony Mowbray’s side hoped to spoil Norwich City’s almost imminent promotion party to the Premier League.
As would have been expected by the home crowd, it was their side who had the first attempt at goal, on the 5th minute, as Norwich’s Player of the Season, Teemu Pukki chested the ball into the path of Marco Stiepermann, who saw his powerful effort balloon over the bar.
3 minutes later, Onel Hernández picked the ball up from just inside the Rovers penalty area, after being slipped through by Jamal Lewis. The Cuban-born German winger was able to sneak beyond Lewis Travis and swivel into a shot which tricked safely past Jayson Leutwiler and went behind for a goal-kick.
It didn’t take long for the Carrow Road party to begin in the stands, as on the 12th minute, Marco Stiepermann managed to grab the all-important goal that put the Canaries ahead on the night. Some good build-up by the home side saw Hernández’s initial effort blocked by Elliott Bennett, but only as far as Mario Vrančić, who beat Jack Rodwell to the ball in order to lay it off to Stiepermann, who took a touch to kill the ball before striking low and hard with his left-foot from around 25-yards out, which saw the ball roll past most of Rovers’ backline and Leutwiler, to give Norwich the 1-0 advantage, courtesy of the German attacking midfielder.
A couple of minute later, Norwich managed to continue their attacking play after nicking the ball off Rovers from the restart. The home side’s pressing saw them expertly cut out a Rovers attack before building up one of their own. As the ball made its way up the pitch, it eventually fell to Vrančić who found Lewis bombing forwards on the overlap. The young left-back wasted no time in sending in a low cross towards the goalscorer Stiepermann, who managed to somehow set up Pukki for the half-volley which saw it deflect off Darragh Lenihan and behind for a corner, which Rovers dealt with.
Rovers and their travelling support soon had their hearts in their mouths on the 17th minute, as Darragh Lenihan nearly received his marching orders after bringing down Pukki, who seemed through on goal. A long ball by Krul saw the defender miscontrol the ball as he tried to bring it down on his chest, allowing Pukki the opportunity to nick beyond him and have a free run into Rovers’ half and towards their goal. Despite staying on his feet, Lenihan saw Pukki zip past him before he sent the Finnish international to the floor with a late challenge, despite having Derrick Williams in the vicinity to cover for him. Whilst the challenge was ultimately a poor one, referee Andy Madley, deemed it only yellow card worthy, much to the frustration of the home players and their supporters.
The sighs of relief from the away end, soon became sighs of despair as Norwich doubled their lead through Mario Vrančić, who brought the home crowd onto their feet with a sublime strike from near-identical distance to Stiepermann’s opener. Norwich’s pressure continued as they again built-up an attack from the back which nearly saw Pukki grab himself a goal, before Vrančić even had the opportunity to strike at goal. Lewis, Steipermann and Hernández combined with some smooth interplay, before the latter pulled the trigger from close-range. Although Hernández tried to go for goal, his shot somehow skewed into the path of Pukki who somehow saw thighed effort clawed away by Leutwiler on the line, as Rovers could only clear as far as Ben Godfrey, who began another attack which saw the ball eventually fall to Vrančić who took advantage of the fact he wasn’t being closed down, to walloped the ball into the top left-hand corner of the goal to make it 2-0 as he left Leutwiler sprawling and the defence statuesque.
Despite falling to a pair of well-struck efforts by the soon-to-be Premier League side, Rovers were not prepared to lose the game without a fight, and they soon managed to half the deficit of the tie, only 2 minutes after the ball had been in the back of their net. As the Blues restarted the tie, they managed to play Norwich at their own game, by building an attack of their own through the retaining of possession and the utilisation of a patient passing game. Soon, the ball made it out to Amari’i Bell, who managed to find a free Lewis Travis, on the edge of the Norwich penalty area. The young central midfielder was ablt to take a touch to compose himself, before the closing down begun, and whip a right-footed effort, past Ben Godfrey and the despairing Tim Krul, to grab his first goal for the club, as Rovers got back into the game at 2-1.
On the 27th minute, Norwich once again broke through the Rovers backline in the hope of adding to their tally. Pukki was played through, before he delivered a low cross into the path of the arriving Stiepermann, who released a first-time side-footed effort from around 10-yards out, but was denied by the sharp reflexes of Leutwiler, who brushed the ball away with his trailing leg.
From the counter-attack, Rovers managed to get into a crossing position of their own, through Adam Armstrong. Although the cross was an inviting one, however, both Danny Graham and Bradley Dack, who were stretching at their maximum, couldn’t find the touch that would have guided the ball home.
The end-to-end nature of the game became noticeable as from the Norwich goal-kick, they again managed to get beyond Rovers’ defence, however Derrick Williams, who once again showed his capability at playing as a centre-back, showed good pace and timing to cleanly hook the ball off Pukki’s feet to deny the Fin another opportunity.
On the 34th minute, Rovers had a wide free-kick that was played short before Elliott Bennett managed to send a cross in which cleared, only as far as Jack Rodwell. The former Sunderland man was able to watch the ball land before hitting it first-time with his left-foot, but unluckily for him, the ball cannoned back off Ben Godfrey, who was in the right place at the right time to deny Rovers a potential second goal.
5 minutes after Rodwell’s attempt, Emiliano Buendía was able to work an angle at which to shoot at goal from, however his tight-angled effort was blazed over the bar from close-range.
Minutes before the break, Amari’i Bell tried his luck with a right-footed effort, after cutting inside, but saw his strike fly over the bar for a goal-kick to the home side.
Referee Andy Madley only added on 2 minutes onto the end of the half, before calling for the end of the first period, which signalled for Rovers to potentially think of a way back into the game, despite having nothing to play for.
With both teams in their respective dressing rooms, there would have been an aura of concentration around both segments, with each manager calling for focus for different reasons.
Daniel Farke would have been praising his players for their performance and their – what seemed like – a quick-fire double to put Rovers under serious pressure, however the German coach’s emphasis on focus would have been due to Rovers’ recent positive record, including the Travis goal, which would have rocked a few nerves. Despite being in pole position to enter the Premier League, Farke’s focus on awareness of Rovers’ potential attacking ability would have been a key point of his half-time speech.
Tony Mowbray, contrastingly, would have potentially been a bit more scathing and critical in his analysis of Rovers’ first period. The gaffer would have been lamenting their defensive efforts for both goals, despite being relatively solid during the various times that Norwich had forayed forwards in attack. Additionally, whilst managing to nick a goal, Mowbray would have been calling for his players to be a bit more courageous and more ambitious in their own attacks to try and grab a result that would give the travelling fans some cheer.
Prior to Norwich getting the game back underway for the second-half, Rovers made their first change of the evening as Danny Graham remained in the dressing room, with Ben Brereton, who notched his first goal in Rovers colours on Easter Monday against Bolton Wanderers, coming on to replace the veteran forward.
Norwich continued the second-half from where they left off the first as Buendía’s audacious overhead kick from just outside the 6-yard box, saw Leutwiler scrambling to palm the attempt away from goal, before Bennett cleared the ball behind for a corner which Rovers dealt with.
On the 52nd minute, Bradley Dack’s frustrating evening was compounded by a yellow card after he brought down Buendía, inside the Rovers half.
Shortly after, Onel Hernández rattled the bar from just inside the Rovers box. The former Germany under-18s international was played in beyond Elliott Bennett by Mario Vrančić, which allowed Hernández to speed away from the makeshift full-back before using his quick feet to confuse the former Norwich midfielder in order to cut inside and release an effort which curled and cannoned back off the crossbar, much to Hernández’s frustrations.
On the 58th minute, Rovers’ second change of the evening saw Craig Conway introduced in-place of Jack Rodwell, as Joe Rothwell filled in alongside Lewis Travis for the remainder of the game.
A couple of minutes later, Norwich were again in behind Rovers, as Max Aarons was played through, however his effort was struck over the bar.
As 63 minutes passed, Conway tried to find Dack with a cross, but saw Tim Krul collect as the Rovers playmaker failed to connect with the delivery.
Seconds later, Norwich captain Christoph Zimmerman picked up his tenth booking of the campaign after he scythed down Ben Brereton from behind as Rovers earnt a free-kick from a promising area. Unfortunately for Rovers and for Bradley Dack, the hotshot was unable to utilise the set-piece as he blazed it over the bar.
That underwhelming free-kick proved to be Dack’s last involvement in the game as he was replaced by Harry Chapman, who came on for his permanent debut for the club, on the 72nd minute.
On the 74th minute, Norwich managed to dispossess Lenihan and hit Rovers on the break after the defender was tackled after capitalising on a loose ball. With the centre-back out of position, Stiepermann slipped through Hernández, who broke away and bore down on goal, however instead of taking the chance on himself, decided to slip the ball into Pukki. Despite the unselfish intentions by the 26-year old winger, Amari’i Bell was on hand to clear the ball away before Pukki was able to latch onto the pass. Whilst the clearance was a good one, Norwich soon regained possession seconds later, due to their high press and came forward again intent on scoring a third. Steipermann was able to drive into the box before releasing a low drive that forced Leutwiler into a save which again saw Bell forced to clear, this time out for a throw-in.
Once Rovers had regained possession on the 76th minute after receiving a free-kick inside the Norwich half, following a foul on Lewis Travis, the ball made its way out to Adam Armstrong who delivered another inviting cross which Derrick Williams rose highest in Blue and White, to meet. Although the defender’s header was a free one, with no marker around, the accuracy and connection lacked the precision needed to level the scoring, as Norwich were awarded a goal-kick.
A minute later, Harry Chapman burst into action as he bombed down the left-hand side, wriggled past Max Aarons, before releasing a shot that deflected off the full-back and went out for a throw-in on the opposite wing.
On the 81st minute, Adam Armstrong was shown a yellow card for tripping Jamal Lewis which gave Norwich a good crossing position, by the left-hand corner flag. Although the opportunity to deliver was good, Norwich’s training ground set-piece routine was sussed out by Rovers as Lenihan cleared before Pukki could connect with the ball.
As the 90th minute approached, 3 minutes of added time were called for as the home crowd began to anxiously call for the whistle that would trigger their arrival into the Premier League.
Whilst the home crowd were on the edge of their seats, Rovers believed they could snatch a late equaliser to dampen the celebrations around Carrow Road – as only a Rovers victory would have denied the Canaries promotion mathematically. Craig Conway’s corner was cleared only as far as Joe Rothwell who hit a volley from the edge of the area, over the bar.
Seconds before the final whistle was blown, Norwich made their all of their changes in an attempt to run down the clock. Onel Hernández, Marco Stiepermann and Teemu Pukki all departed the field to standing ovations and were replaced by Alexander Tettey, Moritz Leitner, and former Rovers goal-poacher Jordan Rhodes.
Although the trio of substitutes were only on the field for less than a minute, referee Andy Madley soon called an end to a game that, in reality, was all about Norwich City and their promotion, with Rovers only being ‘special guests’ for their promotion party.
Whilst Easter Monday’s victory at home to Bolton Wanderers seemed like a pre-season friendly, this game was nothing of the like. Norwich City displayed their quality in full force and proved why they were spending next season amongst England’s elite football teams, as they cut a relatively solid Rovers backline open on numerous occasions. Although the home side were impressive, Rovers during the first-half, made it easy for them to capitalise on mistakes and find the back of the net on both occasions, with their lack of pressing and closing down of the ball, which was amplified during Mario Vrančić’s wonder strike.
Furthermore, some plaudits have to be given to the 700-odd Rovers fans that made the long trip down to Norfolk to follow their team, despite having to pay £35 a ticket, with the side having relatively nothing to play for.
One positive to the game however, was the clear evidence of Rovers trying to adapt their playstyle. With the gaffer calling for his players to alter their gameplan into a more possession-based style, that gradual change did show on some occasions, and was a key element in Lewis Travis’s goal. Of course, such as change, as Tony Mowbray has highlighted, will need time to consolidate and learn, it is intriguing and exciting to see it in its early stages, especially against a team of Norwich’s calibre.
Whilst the congratulations need to be handed out to Norwich City on their promotion, Rovers’ league position, despite the defeat, hasn’t altered, with Tony Mowbray’s men remaining in 14th place. Although their points have stagnated at 59 and their goal-difference has taken a hit from -4 to -5, the prospect of sneaking into the top half of the table is still on, as victory in the final game of the season could see Rovers conclude their campaign in 12th if other results fall in their favour.
As 45 games have been played over the course of the gruelling league campaign, the hard-work and pressure all comes to a close on Sunday, 5th May, as Rovers host Graham Potter’s Swansea City at Ewood Park at 12:30pm.
