Newcastle United hit the woodwork three times but failed to beat Norwich City at Carrow Road tonight in a goalless draw that finished with both sides down to 10 men.
Loic Remy, who had earlier struck the post and the crossbar either side of half time, was sent off in the 80th minute after a clash with Bradley Johnson, for which the Canaries midfielder was also dismissed.
Here, Sports Mole analyses whether the result was reflective of the action.
Match statistics
Norwich
Shots: 9
On target: 2
Possession: 46%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 13
Newcastle
Shots: 22
On target: 3
Possession: 54%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 7
Was the result fair?
Newcastle will be wondering how they didn't win this. They were better than Norwich in every department, but lacked the most important thing in football, composure, and perhaps a bit of luck in front of goal. The fact that only three of their 22 attempts were on target shows where they failed to win this match.
Norwich's performance
Chris Hughton will know that his side were lucky to escape with a point. There was little more than hope to their attacking play and despite going with two recognised forwards, they were pretty defensive in their approach. There was no evidence of effective combination play between Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Gary Hooper, who was Norwich's only goalscoring threat. Neither Anthony Pilkington nor Robert Snodgrass offer them natural width and therefore it was not until the introduction of Nathan Redmond that the ball was being tossed into the box. Defensively, Ryan Bennett struggled with Loic Remy, but behind him John Ruddy made a couple of good saves. Scoring goals has been a big problem for the Canaries and it shows no signs of ending. Will Hughton look to address this before the transfer deadline?
Newcastle's performance
They were very dangerous going forward. Yohan Cabaye's creativity was not missed looking at the number of opportunities that United created, but it was in front of goal that Newcastle were lacking that touch of class. Hatem Ben Arfa and Remy both failed to make the most of excellent chances, and when the latter did get it about right, he was denied by the woodwork. Alan Pardew is unlikely to be without his influential forward pair for the next few matches due to injury and suspension respectively. Their three-man midfield were too much for Norwich and controlled the game, while their defence coped easily with the minimal threat that came their way. It was at the other end where they fell narrowly short tonight.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Moussa Sissoko:
With no Cabaye in midfield, Newcastle needed to try a different tact to the passing game that he is such a big part of. Sissoko took on the creative onus and started many of Newcastle's attacks with his driving runs through midfield, popping up through the centre and on both wings. He often combined well with Remy and supplied the striker with a couple of chances, but it was not his night in front of goal.
Biggest gaffe
Ben Arfa was lively throughout and showed great trickery and balance when he embarked on his accustomed dribbles. However, his finishing let him down in the latter stages of the first half. Sammy Ameobi had found him with a smart cutback, and from 12 yards out, the winger scuffed his shot into the ground and over the crossbar in an effort representative of Newcastle's luck in front of goal all evening.
Referee performance
Chris Foy's evening suddenly got challenging in the 80th minute, following a melee in which Remy and Johnson clashed heads. He took his time and consulted the nearby assistant referee before showing both players red cards. In hindsight, it was just a bit of pushing and shoving, but at least Foy was consistent in the fact that he sent off both, rather than one and not the other. Prior to that, his biggest involvement was when he correctly analysed a Newcastle penalty appeal after Ben Arfa hit the floor in the box. There was no contact made by Bennett, but Ben Arfa stumbled over his own feet rather than took a dive, and Foy sensibly took no action when he could have easily panicked into making a mistake.
What next?
Norwich: Hughton, and the Canaries fans, will be demanding a much better performance from their players when they travel to Wales to face bottom-of-the-table Cardiff City next Saturday.
Newcastle: It is the big one for Geordie fans as the Magpies welcomes Sunderland to St James' Park for the Tyne-Wear derby on Saturday, hoping to exact some revenge for their defeat earlier in the season.
Joe Fish
