Norwich City Misses Opportunities in 2-0 Loss to Manchester United

Hello fellow Canaries Supporters! I hope Norwich City's 2-0 road loss to Manchester United hasn't daunted your weekend. Watching Saturday's match with fellow Norwich City Supporters, the NY Canaries, at our well-known location of George Keeley, I had hoped for a tie. 

Playing against the reigning Premier League Champions at Old Trafford, the Canaries fought them tooth-and-nail in front of a crowd of 75,514.

While City's effort was commendable, it simply wasn't enough to overcome the Reds as they went on to win their 19th-consecutive home match in Premier League competition. 

In a match where Manchester United had the overwhelming statistical advantage, the Canaries came close to scoring twice in the second half. After a scoreless first half, Norwich City had several opportunities to take a 1-0 lead.

In the 52nd and 54th minutes of the match, both City striker Steve Morison and midfielder Anthony Pilkington misfired their opportunity to stun the pro-Manchester United crowd. With Norwich aggressively advancing the ball, they had created their third opportunity in the 64th minute when Anthony Pilkington stole the ball from Manchester United's Antonio Valencia.

Advancing the ball for the score, Pilkington just had Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard to beat. Instead of finding the back of the net with his strike, Pilkington misfired his shot wide. 

Minutes later, Manchester United demonstrated why they have no intention of relinquishing their status as the Premier League's best when United took a 1-0 lead in the 68th minute. Manchester's Wayne Rooney accepted a corner kick as he head-volleyed the ball to teammate Anderson, who pounced at his opportunity to break the scoreless draw, heading the ball past City goalkeeper John Ruddy for the lead. 

With 15 minutes remaining in the match, it appeared Norwich was going to stun the crowd with an equalizer at Old Trafford when Pilkington's shot passed by Manchester United's Phil Jones and Anders Lindegaard. With Norwich's final opportunity to score, Pilkington's shot rebounded off the post and comfortably landed into Lindegaard's arms. 

Leading 1-0, Manchester United was able to seal the match when substitute Danny Welback accepted a cross from Park Ji-Sung to give United a 2-0 lead in the 87th minute of the match. Moments later, Wayne Rooney had an opportunity to make it 3-0 when he beat three Norwich defenders for the ball.

Fortunately for Norwich City, Rooney misfired his opportunity to score his 10th goal of the season.

While a 2-0 loss is nothing to be proud about, Norwich City has no reason to feel ashamed.

Statistically, Manchester United was the superior team, and it demonstrates the managerial skills of Manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Against Norwich City, they had a 10-3 advantage on corner kicks as well as having an 87.7- to 72.3-percent advantage on pass completions.

Two critical areas where United also dominated was in ball possession and territorial advantage. By possessing the ball for 67.6-percent of the time, United was able to maintain possession in their area as they had a 60.6-percent territorial advantage over Norwich's 39.4.

In addition to United's excellent ball control and defense, United has no reservation in spreading the ball throughout the pitch as the left side held possession for 27.78-percent while the midfield and right side each possessed the ball for a 36.11-percent.

While defeating the team is a challenge in itself, the individual player performances clearly demonstrates why they're the juggernaut team that millions follow worldwide. 

Against Norwich, striker Wayne Rooney completed 46-of-56 passes while registering an assist for an 82.1-percent completion. Midfielder Darren Fletcher competed 86.6-percent of his passes as he went 92-of-106.

While Anderson scored the first goal for Manchester United, his overall performance was impressive, completing 74-of-85 passes. Fellow midfielder Park Ji-Sung completed 49-of-56 passes for a whopping 87.5-percent and added an assist late in the match when he crossed to teammate Danny Welback. 

Manchester United's substitution trio of Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand and Danny Welback demonstrated why United has one of the deepest benches in the Premier League. Along with completing 32-of-35 combined passes, this trio also produced a goal thanks to Welback.

While Manchester United maybe the superior team, Norwich City has played hard all season and have shown signs of growth. Individually, Norwich City's players produced a solid performance.

Defenders Kyle Naughton and Russell Martin combined to complete 46-of-54 passes for an impressive 85.1-percent completion.

The midfielder quartet of Wes Hoolahan, David Fox and Bradley Johnson continue to shine for the Canaries. By completing 110-of-139 passes for a 79.1-percent completion, the midfield unit of Norwich City possessed the ball for 42.6-percent of the time. 

While the right side possessed the ball for 36-percent of the time, the left side wasn't as balanced as they possessed the ball for 22.4-percent against Manchester United. With the season still young, the only thing that's prevented Norwich from having a better record is their inability to take advantage of their opportunities to produce goals.

Norwich City manager Paul Lambert continues to do a marvelous job in preparing his team for their matches. As a result, the team has become more aggressive in their adjustment to the Premier League. The defense has kept the Canaries in every match this season, and based on what many of us saw today, it's a matter of time when they're able to produce goals off their counter-attacks. 

Following their loss at Old Trafford, the Canaries (2-2-3) return to Carrow Road for their Oct. 15 encounter against Swansea City (1-2-3). Until then, please feel free to contact me via email or Twitter.

If you're in NYC, please feel free to join me and the rest of the NY Canaries at George Keeley.

If you live in New York City and you support Norwich City: NY Canaries

Thanks for reading! OTBC!

Other Premier League Results from Saturday

Liverpool won 2-0 over Everton. 

Aston Villa won 2-0 over Wigan Athletic. 

Manchester City won 4-0 over Blackburn Rovers. 

Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion competed to a 2-2 draw. 

Newcastle United won 2-1 over Wolverhampton Wanderers. 

Barclays Premier League Standings as of October 1, 2011

1. Manchester United (6-1-0, 19 pts); 2. Manchester City (6-1-0, 19 pts); 3. Newcastle United (4-3-0, 15 pts); 4. Chelsea (4-1-1, 13 pts); 5. Liverpool (4-1-2, 13 pts); 6. Aston Villa (2-5-0, 11pts); 7. Tottenham Hotspur (3-0-2, 9 pts); 8. Stoke City (2-3-1, 9 pts); 9. Queens Park Rangers (2-2-2, 8 pts); 10. Norwich City (2-2-3, 8 pts); 11. Everton (2-1-3, 7pts); 12. Wolverhampton Wanderers (2-1-4, 7 pts); 13. Arsenal (2-1-3, 7 pts); 14. Sunderland (1-3-3, 6 pts); 15. West Bromwich Albion (1-2-4, 5 pts); 16. Swansea City (1-2-3, 5 pts); 17. Wigan Athletic (1-2-4, 5 pts); 18. Fulham (0-4-2, 4 pts); 19. Blackburn Rovers (1-1-5, 4 pts); 20. Bolton Wanderers (1-0-5, 3 pts)

Cesar Diaz covers Soccer for LatinoSports.com. He also writes for 5 Points Press & USSoccerPlayers.com; your source for American Soccer news brought to you by members of the U.S. National Team. Easily accessible, you may reach Cesar at [e-mail] and at Twitter at @CoveringSoccer.