Manchester City faced off against Norwich City at Carrow Road earlier this evening hoping to close the gap to Liverpool at the top of the Premier League standings. The home team made a bright start to the game and caused a lot of problems for the Citizens defenders on the counter. The Canaries took the lead in the 18th minute through Kenny McLean’s header. Todd Cantwell doubled his team’s advantage just ten minutes later when he tapped the ball in from close range. However, Sergio Aguero found the back of the net just before half-time to set-up a dramatic second half.
Norwich came out with an attacking mentality in the second half and restored their two-goal lead when Teemu Pukki capitalised after a catastrophic mistake by Nicolas Otamendi to score from close range. Rodri pulled a goal back for the Citizens in the 88th minute, but it was not enough as they ended up losing the contest with a 3-2 scoreline.
Let’s take a look at how each Man City player performed during the contest against the Canaries.
GK: Ederson – 5/10
The Brazilian keeper passed the ball well but could not do much about any of Norwich’s three goals during the game.
RB: Kyle Walker – 5/10
The English full-back failed to create anything meaningful going forward. He was also vulnerable in defence as the Norwich attackers exploited the space behind him.
CB: John Stones – 5/10
The English defender found life difficult when the Canaries pressed him high up the pitch. However, he still had a better game than his veteran centre-back partner.
CB: Nicolas Otamendi – 2/10
It was a nightmare performance from the Argentine defender. He made a horrendous mistake when Buendia snatched the ball out of his feet inside the Man City penalty area which led to Teemu Pukki scoring from point-blank range.
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 3/10
He was poor when in possession of the ball and failed to cause any problems going forward. Zinchenko was also caught out of position quite often which left the Man City centre-backs exposed at the back.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan – 4/10
The German midfield ace failed to create too many chances in the Canaries half.
CM: Rodri – 7.5/10
The Spaniard retained the ball well under pressure and gave his team a glimmer of hope in the 88th minute when he scored with a powerful finish from long range.
CM: David Silva – 5/10
The veteran playmaker tried to link up with others around him, but Norwich coped with his threat well by crowding him away from their penalty box.
RM: Bernardo Silva – 6/10
The Portuguese winger picked Aguero out with a brilliant cross in the first half. However, he failed to create too many chances in the second and was rightfully subbed out of the game.
ST: Sergio Aguero – 6/10
The Argentine centre-forward scored with a fantastic header just before half-time. However, he was wasteful in front of the Norwich goal in the second half.
LM: Raheem Sterling – 5.5/10
The English speedster could have scored with his attempt that hit the post. Sterling lacked the cutting edge in the final third today, which will disappoint him.
Substitutes:
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – 7/10
The Belgian international orchestrated some decent openings for his teammates after coming on in the second half.
ST: Gabriel Jesus – 5/10
The Brazilian forward was full of tricks but with no end-product.
RM: Riyad Mahrez – N/A
The Algerian did not have enough time to make an impact.
