Norwich City made it only one win in their last three Championship games, as they lost 2-1 to Middlesbrough on Saturday.

The Canaries are now heading into the World Cup break on the back of a defeat and sitting in fifth place, six points from second-place Sheffield United and nine from leaders Burnley.

Saturday’s game saw Norwich take the lead early on, with striker Josh Sargent, who is heading to the World Cup with the United States, scoring his ninth goal of the season and his first since October.

However, despite taking an early lead, the Canaries couldn’t hold on, and the second half saw Middlesbrough come back into the game. Boro midfielder Riley McGree equalised just after the hour mark before Matt Crooks scrambled home a winner in the 92nd minute to seal all three points.

Speaking after the game, Norwich’s goal scorer on Saturday gave an honest assessment of the team’s performance, labelling Norwich as “too passive” after suffering their seventh defeat of the season.

Sargent said, via Norfolk Live: “We were creating a lot of chances, we could have had even more goals. We went up with that one goal and, after that, we became too passive. That's not a time to sit back and relax, that's a time to go and get that second goal, push harder. So, it's a very disappointing result for us.

"It happens in some games (not taking chances). Even then, I think we need to step it up and keep creating the chances, the chances are there, we just need to be better with them."

 

 

 

 

 

The Verdict

It’s been a disappointing season for Norwich so far, with the Canaries performing below many people’s expectations.

There’s normally an expectation when Norwich are in the Championship after previous years of dominating the division whenever they have been in it. However, this season hasn’t been quite like that, with Dean Smith’s team struggling to find that consistent form.

This four-week break has probably come at the right time for Norwich and Smith, with the club able to take a step back and assess where they need to improve heading into the Christmas period. If results don’t improve, Smith may find himself under more pressure than he currently is.