It was a cold night at the Brentford Community Stadium, as two teams who have their eyes on promotion met to battle it out. It was a tactical affair, with both teams battling to find a way through.<\/h2>\n

After a quiet 15 minutes, Norwich looked marginally on top. Their passing was on point, and they were in control and dictating play. Brentford, meanwhile, were only able to get on the ball due to their good pressing, which saw them winning the ball on a few occasions high up the pitch.<\/p>\n

One thing that stood out from both teams was how they kept the ball between the keeper and defence, despite opposition pressure. In the early exchanges, the only chances were created after the defence was pressured into a misplaced pass or cleared ball.<\/p>\n

The first chance of note came from Norwich. The Canaries picked the ball up in midfield and a pass to Buendia saw him flick it round his defender and charge at goal. He twisted and turned in the box, putting his defender on the floor. Buendia looked set to place the ball firmly in the bottom corner, but his rising shot was somehow turned over the bar for a corner.<\/p>\n

It was Norwich again with a good effort, as Vrancic found space on the edge of the box, but his low shot went wide of Raya’s post.<\/p>\n

This seemed to be a warning sign for Brentford, who stepped it up a gear. They found a breakthrough when a misplaced pass by Cantwell, who had been accurate until this point, was picked up in midfield. The ball was sent out wide to Mbeumo, whose low cross was met by a sliding Ivan Toney, and ended in the back of the net.<\/p>\n

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