Norwich City suffered their first league defeat since the horror show at Millwall as goal from David Nugent and Sam Winnall gave Derby all three points. Fatigue and a lack of creativity in the final third played a key part in the loss after the Canaries took Arsenal to extra-time in the Carabao Cup in mid-week. But how did the players rate when they returned to league action?
Norwich City 1-2 Derby County: Norwich Player Ratings
Angus Gunn – 5
Certainly not his finest 90 minutes in his boyhood colours. Whilst Angus Gunn has been assured and confident in recent weeks, he struggled in this game. Although he did not have much to do in terms of saves, when called upon to make key stop he did not deliver. His mistake in the second half, which led to Nugent running clear on goal, encapsulated a poor day at the office for the English youngster.
Ivo Pinto – 6
Throughout the first half, he was a major threat, showing pace, athleticism and desire down the right hand side. He was constantly winning corners and providing width to the team. However, despite a positive attacking display, he grew tired as the second half wore on and did not supply that explosive pace as before. Defensively is was not his best game as Derby created space down the right on numerous occasions.
Timm Klose – 7
The Switzerland international has proven to be a key figure since coming back into the team. He was responsible for being the figurehead in Norwich achieving five consecutive league clean sheets. Today, he controlled the game well in the first half; his leap in the second half was greeted by monumental cheers as he scored his first league goal of the season. However, he was symbolic of the team in the latter stages of the game as he grew tired and could not keep up with the attacking pace of Derby.
Christoph Zimmermann – 7
Zimmermann showed some positives today, being a man mountain in the first half and in spells in the second half, winning many aerial duels. However, in the last minute of the first period, he did the wrong sort of dive and misjudged the ball. This resulted in Nugent having space to score. He picked himself up well in the second half and after a brilliant challenge to deny Nugent after Gunn’s mistake, he proved he is up for the fight despite some fatigue in the latter stages of the game.
Marco Steipermann – 6
It was a busy afternoon for the German full back. He was a threat down the left-hand side on more than one occasion. Having all the space he could ask for, he left the crossbar rattling when really he should have scored. In addition, he produced an excellent save from Scott Carson and put a peach of a ball onto Klose’s head to equalise. While he was powerful and direct going forward in the second half, the left flank was exposed and consequently so were the centre-backs as Derby were rewarded by his misplaced positioning.
Tom Trybull – 8
There were regular glimpses of quality from the German. Potentially, he as the ability to reignite his promising career at Norwich. His defensive positioning was good and he remained calm and effective on the ball. He rarely gave the ball away and constantly showing good technical attributes. Trybull epitomises Daniel Farke’s possession style football as well as a professional attitude on the pitch.
Harrison Reed – 7
Much like Trybull, a disciplined performance from Reed. He is important in the balance and shape of the team and made some positive contributions. Whilst he was not as busy as Trybull, the young Southampton loanee made some good tackles and was good in dictating play in the first half.
Wes Hoolahan – 5
Without a doubt, Hoolahan is far more effective in a central role. The Irish international did not have his best game, failing to provide quality and creativity in the final third. Due to his tendency to move central, space opened up for Steipermann to come forward. However this also meant there was a lack of width and crossing opportunities down the left. He was not effective in a congested midfield and struggled to open up play.
James Maddison – 6
Away from home the young English starlet has done all the talking on the pitch. Whilst his movement was good and technically showed glimpses of quality he did not have his best game. He had a free-kick in a promising area which went over. As well as this, he failed to link well with Cameron Jerome at times.
Josh Murphy – 7
After scoring at Arsenal in the week, the confidence of the youngster was high. He tested the keeper early on and on plenty of occasions beat his full-back. He showed real desire to beat Scott Carson to the ball and should have won a penalty when running through on goal. Perhaps his honesty in staying on his feet for too long affected the referee’s decision.
Cameron Jerome – 5
This man raises a huge debate. With Nelson Oliveira getting injured this is a striker we will see a lot more of in a city shirt. He lost a lot of aerial duels and failed to bring others into play. He did not have a lot of movement in front of him and seems more potent with a striker to offer support. Better delivery was needed into him but needed to get into better positions when we had the ball in the final third. He failed to offer penetrative runs or get in good areas when in crossing positions.
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