Norwich vs. Manchester United: Winners and Losers from Premier League
Norwich City remain in the Premier League relegation zone after losing, 1-0, at home to Manchester United on Saturday.
The hosts started well and could have taken the lead inside five minutes through Cameron Jerome's header, but chances thereafter in the opening half were at a premium, and the first 45 finished goalless.
The second half followed a similar pattern, needing a mistake from Sebastien Bassong to yield the first and only goal of the game, with Wayne Rooney teeing up Juan Mata to score.
Here are all our winners and losers from the game at Carrow Road.
Winner: Juan Mata
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One of the few attackers who showed any creativity or endeavour, Mata played from the right and dipped infield continuously to try to find space and shift the ball into the Norwich penalty box.
He twice created openings by playing reverse passes behind Norwich's defence in the opening stages of the second half, the first occasions that there had really been any runners for him to take advantage of. Then he ended the match-winner as he worked hard to support Rooney after the mistake in defence.
Mata has now scored five times against Norwich, according to Premier League on Twitter—and this time his strike was worth an extra two points in the race for the top four.
Loser: Louis van Gaal
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Three points is ultimately all that matters, and it is likely what the United boss will point to, but in truth, his side were abysmal once more and only picked up points on the back of a defensive mistake.
United had only managed a single shot on target in the game before the goal against a side who are one off the bottom in the league, and for all their possession, they created nothing of note inside the penalty box.
Van Gaal left Marcus Rashford out of his matchday squad, then lost his striker in the warm-up and had no alternative in place. Resting players with a week remaining in the season seems nothing short of pointless, given what was at stake for United with the top-four challenge still on, and they almost paid for his decision.
Winner: Ivo Pinto
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There aren't too many players from the starting 22 who can genuinely claim to have put in a standout performance, but Norwich's right-back Ivo Pinto was reasonably impressive.
He shut down Memphis Depay every time the Dutchman received possession in the first half, most memorably with one fine tackle in a one-on-one situation.
Pinto didn't really support the attack too often, but his defensive work was sound, and he covered infield when he needed to.
Loser: Cameron Jerome
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Norwich, needing goals, opted to play Jerome in attack ahead of Dieumerci Mbokani, but within a few minutes, boss Alex Neil must have been wishing he had played the latter—who surely would have buried a headed chance from just six yards out.
After that early miss, Jerome barely threatened at all with his movement lacking in attack and a poor first touch inside the penalty box. Norwich desperately needed better link play in the final third, and Jerome didn't offer the ability to do so either on or off the ball.
It was no surprise when he was subbed off, with Norwich not having troubled David De Gea since the fifth minute.
Loser: Sebastien Bassong
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Captain of the club, but costing his team points again.
Not for the first time, Sebastien Bassong made an awful error in defence after Norwich had held their opponents at bay in relative comfort and, unable to recover to make a challenge on Rooney who had escaped him, saw United score from his mistake.
Bassong had held the line well for most of the match before that point, but with only two more games left and Norwich staring relegation in the face, they could afford no mistakes in this game...and Bassong cost them even the single point they were holding on to.
