It was the Hammers’ turn to take on Chris Hughton’s Norwich City and it ended up in a nil nil draw. Not a bad result for the Hammers’ mind as a point away is always a good point – shame there were no goals in the mix, though.
Chris Hughton will be waking up on sunday morning with a worried face for sure as he will be reflecting on the fact that the boys from Carrow Road have failed to win a match in four outings.
Even more worrying for Chris Hughton will be that Grant Holt failed to make any impact on the game whatsoever. Hammers fans will remember Holt as one of the possible signings for the club in the summer. Norwich City still have to face some big guns in their next four matches, too. Newcastle, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal are their next fixtures and if Norwich are going to survive in top flight football, they are going to have to win some of these games.
Holt was even taken off in the second half and that to me spells trouble. Hughton will want to sort these problems out early on in the season if they are to stand the pace of the hectic premier League.
Chris Hughton spoke after the game about his team’s display as well as Grant Holt:
“The positive is that we haven’t lost in three games and we haven’t lost at Carrow Road. I don’t see any lack of hunger in Grant. He has still got the same desire and commitment. The fact he hasn’t scored will be a disappointment for him because he’s a striker.”
Meanwhile, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce was more positive about his team’s display:
“Three clean sheets in four games is a great base to build on”.
It was a pretty dour match and so coming away with a point can’t be all that bad, can it? West Ham are a difficult team to beat and Norwich City had trouble running at the boys from Upton Park. And with Grant Holt not exactly in tip top condition for his team, West Ham had no trouble taking him out of the match.
Match Stats
Norwich City (4-4-2): Ruddy; Martin, Barnett, Bassong, Garrido; Snodgrass, Howson, Johnson, Surman; Holt (Kane 72), Jackson (Morison 64).
Subs: Rudd (g), Turner, Hoolahan, Fox, Tierney.
West Ham United (4-3-3): Jaaskelainen; Demel, Reid, Collins, O’Brien; Noble, Diame, Nolan; Vaz Te (Benayoun 86), Cole (Maiga 57), Taylor (Jarvis 57).
Subs: Henderson (g), McCartney, Tomkins, Diarra.
Booked: Collins.
Referee: C Foy
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