Down: Liverpool and Norwich’s defenders
For all of the attacking verve on display at Carrow Road, the primary reason for the crazy scoreline was the shocking nature of the defending from both sides.
First to make a catastrophic error was Robbie Brady, who decided to hang back behind the rest of his defensive line, giving Roberto Firmino the time and space he needed to scuff Liverpool ahead. However, this was only the tip of the iceberg.
Liverpool were guilty of yet again failing to properly from a corner, allowing Dieumerci Mbokani to backheel Norwich level. Emre Can then let Steven Naismith go to allow the Scotsman to score on his debut just before half time, before Alberto Moreno twice took out the Scot in the penalty area to allow Norwich to go 3-1 up.
The Canaries’ response was not to sit tight, but to allow Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino acres of space in the box to let Liverpool level, before Russell Martin laid on a horror back-pass for James Milner to restore Liverpool’s advantage.
Just when Klopp’s men looked safe, the Reds failed to deal with a long free kick forward, which allowed Sebastien Bassong to crash in a late equaliser right at the death. Fortunately for Liverpool, Norwich had problems of their own, and Adam Lallana’s late winner came as a result of more poor Canaries defending.
It was a wonderful game, but it is impossible to ignore how bad the defending was.
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