In the context of not just yesterday's game, but the possible course of City's whole season you have to wonder whether there has ever been a better goal than Ched Evans' 88th minute at Cardiff City yesterday.
There will, of course, have been far more important goals down the years. Goals that won Milk Cup semi-finals; goals that won Second Division promotions.
Both would, however, struggle to beat Evans' 35-year-old master-blast in terms of quality; as for importance, that may have to wait a-while. The Canaries gate-crash Ipswich Town's play-off party over the course of the next three months and Evans' wonder strike may yet emerge as the kind of instant, confidence pep-me-up that every successful play-off charge requires on occasion.
What made that strike all the more extraordinary was Evans' own reaction afterwards. It was if the 19-year-old scores that kind of goal every day… Er, he does would be Glenn Roeder's reaction afterwards.
Was it the best goal he'd ever scored? “Nah,” he said, with a disarming matter-of-factness.
“I scored two from the half-way line in pre-season for Man City reserves. Crossbar and in… But, no, it was probably one of the best goals that I've scored.”
As a complete – and stunning – bolt from the blue, it is hard to think of any better. Certainly not in Norwich's recent history.
“I don't where it came from, really,” said the young Welshman, whose last visit to Ninian Park saw him bag a hat-trick for the Welsh Under-21s against France. Yesterday he had to settle for just the two after grabbing City's 15th minute opener against the previously in-form Bluebirds.
At 1-1 with two minutes of normal time left, once Dion Dublin rolled the ball across the middle of the pitch to Evans everyone expected the teenager to head for the nearest corner flag and run the clock down. A point against a side that had won their last five home games? That would do.
“I think the gaffer was shouting run it into the corner, but I don't know… I know I can score goals like that. I've got the confidence – and I'm glad I did!”
As were the 400-odd travelling City supporters who had greeted the dawn chorus in a bid to get to South Wales in time for yesterday's 12 noon kick-off. Their celebrations as Evans' 35-yard bolt from the blue arrowed on and up into the top left-hand corner of the Cardiff goal were only bettered by Evans' own shirt-off antics – for which he was rewarded with a yellow card.
Given that Evans' name had already been touted about last week for a first, full Wales call up on the back of his two goals in the Under-21s 4-0 win in Malta in mid-week, to produce goals Nos 5 and No6 for his Canary collection – and all while wearing the red of Wales – added to the sense of occasion. 'At least he's Welsh…' was one muttered comment as the Bluebirds' faithful shuffled towards the exit their own play-off push on hold on the back of two, 2-1 defeats in a week.
“I like being here in my own country and, obviously, I've got good memories of this place,” he added, after grabbing that Under-21 hat-trick on the day that Roeder was on the phone trying to arrange that loan deal with Manchester City boss Sven Goran Eriksson.
“But it's just the same as any other pitch, really. It was a good surface to play on today and I'm just more than happy with the three points.”
The game was, he admitted, looking all set for a draw. It had already needed a wonderful flying save from City keeper David Marshall in the 78th minute to push a Paul parry header up and around his far post. And as Cardiff tried to turn the screw in the final ten minutes, so Norwich were getting to the point of anywhere away will do…
Little did the rest of his team-mates know that onto the end of Evans' toe would do very nicely.
“We would have been happy with a draw because these are five unbeaten, so it's a great win,” said Evans, with this weekend's result taking the Canaries' own run to 12 unbeaten. With three home games now lying either on the horizon or just over it – against Hull in mid-week and then with Barnsley and Blackpool to follow – that four-point gap to Ipswich Town in sixth looks far from insurmountable. Indeed, it looks firmly within touching distance.
“Every time we play we just gain in confidence. We're all bonding well, so it's going well at the moment,” said Evans, well aware that the top six is not that far distant. It is all a far, far cry from when the young man made his Canary debut away at Blackpool in the back end of November. Then the Norfolk side were stuck fast at the bottom of the Championship table.
“We were just looking to get out of the relegation zone when I first came and now we're looking to be in the play-offs so it's exciting,” he said. An unused substitute in the home clash with Coventry City, Norwich went into that game with just nine points on the door.
“All we needed was confidence and now we've got bags of it – we're just all enjoying our football at the moment.”
And nor is unduly concerned what Wales boss John Toshack is thinking; nor Eriksson back at Eastlands. He's just a young man having the time of his life. Throw in those two Wales Under-21 games and he's now made 13 competitive starts since the end of October and scored 11 goals in the process.
“At the moment I'm not really bothered who I'm impressing; it's just that I'm playing well and I'm getting first team football. And I'm enjoying it. And if you're doing it on the pitch then it'll go well off the pitch for you.”
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