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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This put Brentford in the ascendency for the rest of the half, as they created chance after chance. The best of which, was a Toney header that looked destined for the back of the net, but the outstretched hand of Krul tipped it away.
Norwich nearly levelled after a free-kick was teed up nicely for Hanley, who was unmarked, but he put the header over by the narrowest of margins.
The second half saw Norwich still keeping the ball at the back, despite heavy Brentford pressure. Rico Henry won a free-kick after intercepting a loose ball after Krul was nearly caught in possession. It was a recurring theme from the first half that Norwich seemed to have learnt nothing from. The result free kick pinballed in the box and was eventually hacked clear.
Brentford were enjoying more of the play in this second half, a driven effort by Jensen stung the gloves of Krul, and a shot by Dalsgaard, after a clever Toney knockdown, was somehow diverted away by Krul. In truth, it is an effort that if it is put either side of the keeper, then it’s a goal, but Krul saved it nonetheless. Krul also got behind a driven Dasilva effort too, as Brentford continued to dominate the 2nd half.
Norwich upped the tempo and pressed, but struggled to create. Eventually, they broke through. McLean controlled the ball well on the edge of the box and lashed an effort that was heading wide. It took a horrendous deflection and, with Raya flat-footed, it found its way into the net. It proved the old saying ‘if you don’t shoot, you don’t score’.
The final few minutes were tense, but neither team came close to sealing the win. With so many chances, Brentford will be frustrated that they weren’t able to take the three points.
Brentford and their set-pieces
Brentford lost a key member of their staff in August, with their ‘Head of Set-Pieces’ Andreas Georgson moving to Arsenal. Tonight it showed. They had a routine for everything, throw-ins, corners, free-kicks, they all looked like they were well drilled, and rehearsed routines.
The thing that was apparent tonight, was how ineffective, and how poor they looked from them. Only one actually proved successful, and that was a long throw-in that evaded everyone, to find Dalsgaard, who was always struggling to reach it.
For all the intricacy that these routines seem to have, the final product was majorly lacking, and time after time, gifted possession back to Norwich. So many free-kicks were wasted, many throw-ins given straight back to Norwich. It felt like an area that Brentford feel will give them an edge, however, it did far from it.
Krul put in a mixed performance
He saved Norwich from falling behind with a few saves. The Ivan Toney header, and the Dalsgaard effort were goal-bound, and Krul did well on both occasion. Throughout, his shot-stopping was fine. The goal conceded was not his fault, and he cannot take the blame for that. But for all the key saves, he also kept gifting Brentford the ball.
Early on, Krul was shaky on the ball, and Brentford pressed him high. You could tell that they had seen a weakness, and they were trying to exploit it. However, his clearances, balls forward, and general play on the ball was poor. His consistent desire to play out from the back didn’t work, yet he persisted throughout the whole match.
During the second half, Brentford were in the ascendency, but they were able to be by the fact they were gifted possession so easily, and Krul was responsible for this a lot of the time.
Both teams will feel that they could have done more to win the game, but ultimately they both cam up short. A draw was fair, but so much could have been done by both to simplify, and not overcomplicate, yet improve their play.
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