The striker's early effort was enough to get past Arsenal, who were far from their fluent best at Carrow Road
Arsenal’s title hopes suffered a huge setback as they crashed to defeat at a vibrant Carrow Road.
And Norwich’s survival quest looked a more realistic
prospect
than the Premier League trophy going on display at The Emirates after
the heroics that brought their first win of the season.
Arsenal were confronted by a Norwich outfit showing more defensive steel than has been evident so far this season.
Clearly
manager Chris Hughton has used the international break to work on
organisation and they looked more solid than the side which
capitulated at Chelsea.
Norwich
played like the away team – tracking back, tackling with relish and
defending for their lives. It smothered the creativity and momentum
that has been the hallmark of Arsenal’s season. Santi Cazorla
struggled to establish superiority in midfield while Lukas Podolski and
Olivier Giroud were mastered by Michael Turner and Sebastien
Bassong.And Norwich had Wes Hoolahan as their joker in the pack.
Lively, inventive and a handful, he did to the Arsenal midfield what
Cazorla has been doing to the opposition for Arsenal.
Watching the Dubliner in the stand was Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni.
The
Italian is on the back foot these days after revelations that he rarely
sees matches live and relies on satellite television and DVDs for his
info. Hoolahan must now be in his thoughts.
Meanwhile,
Grant Holt keeps making his case for a call-up by England. He is a
handful, as Per Mertesacker and Thomas Vermaelen will testify. And he
has an instinct for goals as he showed in the 18th minute when Norwich
took the lead.
While Alex Tettey will take credit for his part in the goal, keeper Vito Mannone should have done better.
Tettey’s
20-yard shot was accurate and powerful – but instead of pushing the
ball sideways, Mannone parried it back into the six-yard box and Holt
reacted first.
Arsenal
forced a series of corners but all came to nothing as John Ruddy –
aided by Bassong and Turner – preserved Norwich’s lead at the interval.
There
was more purpose to Arsenal’s play in the second half and Giroud had a
chance when Ruddy pushed out a cross from Carl Jenkinson but the
Frenchman hooked wide.
Norwich were as determined as they were in
the opening 45 minutes and harangued Arsenal. Cazorla dropped deep to
ensure more possession but Arsenal struggled to make clear-cut chances
and Norwich continued to look dangerous on the break.
There was a chance for Arsenal in the
63rd minute when Giroud headed a Mikel Arteta cross into the path of
Gervinho but his header was tame – unlike the effort from Holt 15
minutes later which Mannone was grateful to see flash just wide.
Arsenal’s problems deepened in the 73rd minute when
Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain limped off nine minutes after coming on for the
ineffective Podolski and was replaced by Andrey Arshavin.
With 10 minutes left, Holt
capitalised on a mistake by Vermaelen but his finish was weak. Arsene
Wenger threw on 17-year-old German Serge Gnabry but the frustration
continued as Ruddy saved a
20-yard shot from Arteta.
нар footyroom.com by footyroom
Source : Mirror.co.uk