Neat and tidy Norwich heading in right direction despite Stoke setback

Sky Bet Championship

Norwich 0 Stoke 1
Klose (og) 35

The story of the match
Norwich were the superior side and dominated until Timm Klose turned a harmless looking cross from Cuco Martina past his own goalkeeper Tim Krul.

It had indeed been cruel on Norwich, who had created the best chances. Marco Stiepermann combined well with Todd Cantwell before blazing over and Jamal Lewis forced a decent save from Jack Butland as the Canaries monopolised the ball.

Stoke defended resolutely after the break and it was actually the Potters who came closest to scoring on the counter when Tom Ince curled just wide.

However, the result was harsh on Norwich and the Carrow Road faithful showed their appreciation at the full-time whistle as the Canaries were clapped off the pitch.

Tactics
Norwich were fourth in the Sky Bet Championship possession table last season and are fifth this time, and they enjoyed 69 per cent of the ball against Stoke.

The Norfolk side are a passing team, although the biggest difference from last term is they possess more thrust this campaign, trying to move the ball at a quicker pace, which is appreciated by the supporters who had become used to pedestrian possession in Daniel Farke's debut season at the helm.

Farke has introduced more youth, helping to provide good energy when trying to press the opposition, and his full-backs are used high, meaning holding midfielder Alex Tettey plays an important role when Lewis and Max Aarons are caught up the pitch.

Strengths
The Canaries took hold of midfield and that was in large part due to the excellence of Moritz Leitner, with the German running the majority of the game.

Always available and always playing with his head up, Leitner dictated matters, switched play well and the 25-year-old seems to be enjoying his football having been seen as a big talent at Borussia Dortmund before a succession of injuries robbed him of crucial development time.

Leitner and Tettey provide a nice balance to the Norwich midfield and their biggest threats came down the left, particularly in the first half when Lewis combined dangerously with Cantwell.

The clever Cantwell, only 20 years old, looks to have a bright future and Norwich also had a threat down the opposite flank when Onel Hernandez came on the final 20 minutes following a spell on the sidelines through injury.

Weaknesses
Hernandez did more in his cameo than the man he replaced, Emi Buendia, who was arguably the worst player in a Canaries shirt.

And for all of Norwich's possession they had only three shots on goal and lone striker Teemu Pukki did not stretch Stoke's experienced back four.

There had been a suggestion Pukki was feeling the pinch following a busy period and he certainly was not at his best, but the Finnish forward had previously made key goalscoring contributions against Middlesbrough, Reading and QPR.

Goalscorer notebook
The fluid nature of Norwich's play means the midfielders are often destined for advanced roles and Stiepermann found himself in a couple of shooting situations. He has scored just once in 33 Championship matches for City which should improve and Cantwell is likely to soon break his duck.

Most of Norwich's set-pieces were poor with their specialist Mario Vrancic given only a brief run-out so that will count against the defenders coming up for corners until the Bosnian is back in the side.

View from the camp
Farke said: "The players left their hearts on the pitch with an outstanding performance. I'm unbelievably disappointed we didn't reward ourselves but I’m also proud of my lads because this is exactly the performance I want to see. It's a ridiculous result. Normally even one point would be less than we deserved."

Prospects
Norwich have lost four league games and the first three were against the high-quality current top trio of West Brom, Leeds and Sheffield United. It's easy to see why they are tough to beat after this show.

The top six may be just out of reach, although Norwich are good enough to leave last season's 14th-place finish well behind and they appear to be heading in the right direction.

Opposition
Stoke boss Gary Rowett hailed his side's defensive qualities afterwards and this was a backs-to-the-wall effort, the first time this season Stoke had not conceded at least twice in an away game. It was the type of performance the club will hope is the springboard for improvement following a poor start.

It's a squad packed with experience and no doubt carrying one of the biggest wage bills in the Championship, but few individuals stood out in the 4-1-2-3 formation.

Ince showed the odd moment of magic while Ryan Woods was the pick of the Potters' talent. The deep-sitting midfield playmaker will be crucial to Stoke's ambitions of returning to the Premier League at the first attempt but improvement is needed to hit that target.

Teams
Norwich 4-2-3-1: Krul; Aarons, Zimmermann, Klose, Lewis; Tettey (Vrancic 81), Leitner; Buendia (Hernandez 71), Stiepermann (Rhodes 71), Cantwell; Pukki.

Stoke 4-1-2-3: Butland; Martina, Williams, Martins Indi, Pieters; Woods, Allen, Etebo; Ince (Edwards 87), Afobe (Fletcher 78), McClean (Berahino 65).

Next three fixtures
Norwich: Nottingham Forest (a), Aston Villa (h), Brentford (h)
Stoke: Birmingham (h), Sheff Utd (a), Bristol City (a).

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