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War of attrition at the Carra, as City win the popular vote but not the three points

War of attrition at the Carra, as City win the popular vote but not the three points

4th November 2020 By Gary Gowers 12 Comments

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It feels a little trite to be writing about a 0-0 draw with Millwall as the world teeters on the brink while the US decides whether or not to give a second term to an orange, thin-skinned, racist man baby. But I’ll give it a go.

We could all do with a distraction from that terrible prospect.

Unfortunately, City haven’t given me an awful lot to write about in what was 96 minutes of the most bog-standard Championship fare possible.

Only one team went out to win the game, while the other was well-organised, well-drilled, combative and obstinate, and yet the latter went within a whisker if smashing and grabbing the points as a late effort shaved the City post.

That Millwall came for a point was fine and me pointing it out was in no way a criticism. Three-quarters of the Championship will come to Carrow Road to try and do the same; the Lions just did it better than most.

There was an increasing sense of huffing and puffing as the evening wore on – an evening in which City mustered 27 shots on goal compared to Mllwall’s six – and for once it didn’t feel like there would be a late twist, even when Mario Vrancic entered the fray.

From the very outset it was clear Gary Rowett had closely examined City’s win in Bristol. There was to be no space between the three centre-backs for Teemu Pukki to peel off into; no pockets of space for Emi Buendia to operate in; and, crucially, no chance of Marco Stiepermann being allowed to get on the half-turn and get his head up.

All three boxes were successfully ticked by Rowett’s men and, let’s be honest, it made for a tough old night.

Despite having those 23 shots, Bialkowski wasn’t tested in the way Daniel Farke would have hoped, with Stiepermann, Buendia and Pukki all managing to find the Pole as opposed to the corner of the net, while a lively Przemysław Płacheta would hit his right-hand post.

As has been the case with almost every home game so far this season, hope eventually gave way to frustration which in turn led to desperation. It was a familiar feeling and this time there was no Mario magic to ease the pain.

Technically (and mathematically) it was obviously two points dropped, but it’s all too easy to get bogged down in assuming City could and should win every home game. We should be familiar enough with the Championship by now to know that simply doesn’t happen.

More importantly, it was a continuation of the unbeaten run and another clean sheet for a defence that has at its heart two centre-backs who are improving with every game. Both, for reasons discussed previously, have taken a while to hit their straps but they now look like a solid, bona fide Championship pairing – the type we’ve yearned for.

There’s a lot of love still out there for Christoph Zimmermann, and by god we need the rarity of three fully fit centre halves in the squad, but if Grant Hanley and Gibson stay fit and healthy and Farke keeps with his 4-2-3-1, then there is no reason to change it.

Backed up by Tim Krul, we now look to have a solid core and it’s been a while since I’ve been able to write that.

Swansea will obviously provide a different type of challenge at the weekend and so thick and fast are the games coming, it’s conceivable Farke may want to rotate a little to keep the legs and minds fresh.

But we’re in decent shape. Let’s not lose sight of that.

And, besides, in the spirit of the day, even though we technically drew 0-0 last night, I’m calling it a 1-0 win for City.

If you don’t like it. I’ll see you in Delia’s Supreme Court.


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Filed Under: Column, Gary Gowers

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Comments

  1. Alex B says

    4th November 2020 at 10:11 am

    Hi Gary

    City from all reports and as you say just didn’t have that little spark of magic last night but a clean sheet will give the defences confidence a much needed boost.

    Rowett has a defender always built his teams on a solid defence and midfield his aim is a 1 – 0 win he reminds me of George Graham of the old boring Arse-nal days when it was score early and suck it up for 90mins and get the title.

    The unbeaten runs continue and Swansea are coming of a
    1 – 1 draw with Brentford so both teams will be going into this game with high expectations.

    There will be a few disappointments people with last nights result but I am not one of them knowing it was going to a game of attrition with Millwall not wanting to venture far out of there half for 85mins unless city got an early goal.

    1 more point on the doors towards a possibly happy season ending let’s keep building on that.

    Onwards and upwards

    OTBC

    Stay safe and stay healthy

    1
    Reply
  2. Canaryjim says

    4th November 2020 at 10:22 am

    Meaning 0-0 home draw with millwall 😪😪😪

    Reply
  3. Canaryjim says

    4th November 2020 at 10:25 am

    And i would technically call it 0-1 millwall after god knows how much possession and shots and still no goals 😄

    1
    Reply
  4. Canaryjim says

    4th November 2020 at 10:26 am

    Where would spitting image be without trump 🙄

    1
    Reply
    • martin penney says

      4th November 2020 at 11:43 am

      They’d still have Gove…

      Reply
      • Colin B says

        4th November 2020 at 7:39 pm

        And BoJo

        Reply
  5. Jason M says

    4th November 2020 at 12:02 pm

    As you say Gary, not much to write about. I’ve seen worse games than that, but it was pretty dreary to stuff to watch on the whole. Norwich didn’t play particularly badly and a decent Millwall side defended very well. My heart was in my mouth when the Lions had that late chance, but they wouldn’t have deserved it. Krul didn’t have a save to make I’m sure.

    It’s a good point in the end and I expect Saturday’s fixture to be a totally different ball game.

    Love the Trump reference in the first paragraph!

    Reply
  6. Dan Rear says

    4th November 2020 at 12:02 pm

    Trump ain’t perfect God knows. But is the alternative any better?

    4
    Reply
  7. Chris says

    4th November 2020 at 12:04 pm

    Another game best followed on ceefax Gary. The word is out that packing the defence and blocking is the way to success at carrow road.

    The lack of urgency until the latter stages of the second half, the slow build up, the profligacy when presented with a chance were all evident again as yet another opponent shut up shop.

    Upon relegation we were told that the championship is the place to be, the exciting football, the uncertainty, where anyone can beat anyone taking precedence over the procession that the premier league has become.

    Without exception the five home games have been almost unwatchable, mind numbingly boring, predictable and soulless. Notwithstanding the late drama, the die has been cast and it’s not pretty.

    Our tempo is so slow that the opposition know that almost certainly the first 45 minutes will be null and void. When an opportunity arrives it is squandered badly leading to terrible frustration.

    The lack of quality in the league has bred a championship full of parasitic survivalists whose sole aim is to pack the 18 yard line with bodies and strangle the game.

    If we don’t find the wit and determination to break it down we are going nowhere.

    2
    Reply
    • Stephen Godbold says

      4th November 2020 at 2:36 pm

      I couldn’t disagree more. If you thought the Wycombe or Preston games were boring, predictable and soulless you need to get out more (lockdown permitting, of course). The first half against Bristol City was fantastic. Even last night’s game had some nice patches, and whilst I accept that our finishing remains pants I’m not sure how you can be too critical when we had 27 goal attempts and Millwall had none on target.

      We don’t yet have the consistent quality we had last time in this league, but if it comes we’ll win it again; and 6 games unbeaten with 4 of those wins is a good pointer of what is to come.

      2
      Reply
      • Chris says

        4th November 2020 at 5:18 pm

        If you took time to read my post properly, you would see I made no mention of he Bristol game, where we did indeed play some excellent football.

        The mere fact that we had 27 unsuccessful attempts on goal is in itself a criticism.
        And I get out plenty thank you.

        2
        Reply
  8. Adrian says

    4th November 2020 at 2:10 pm

    I was initially a little disappointed there was no Sky red button this week but sounds like it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing and, as others have said, Millwall are pretty solid defensively so will frustrate a lot of teams in a similar way. It’s still a good point.

    1
    Reply

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