There was no sense of magic in the air, only the smell of hand sanitizer. Manchester United was made to work devilishly hard to reserve its spot in the FA Cup semi-finals, but as they managed a 2-1 win in overtime over Norwich City on Carrow Road, it was hard to escape the idea that this Competition will prove to be the one that suffers the most from the absence of fans.
Norwich deserved better, having gotten off a jumpy start to show endurance and courage. A fine margin game went against them, in part because they had home advantage in name only. The impact of the supporters is obviously impossible to quantify, but the Canaries needed a twelfth man here, and it would have acted as a kind of leveler, especially when Norwich had fewer than 10 men on the field after Timm Klose’s firing.
The essence of the FA Cup mystique, diminished although without a doubt, even under normal circumstances, comes from the sense of the occasion, the simple equation of a direct elimination format that stirs the imagination uninterrupted by the shape of the league . This was the first quarterfinal of the Norwich FA Cup since 1992; the city would have been bustling all day, anticipating an early afternoon in a stadium excited by that intoxicating cocktail of hope and challenge.
A Premier League team, intimidated and threatened by relegation, was simultaneously 90 minutes from Wembley, with the aim of ensuring a result that in turn could breathe new life into their survival fight. Instead, a stadium sterilized to protect those inside from the coronavirus pandemic was stripped of emotion in a way we are now sadly accustomed to, and deprived of the partisan atmosphere that would have made this even more difficult for United.
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Canary Islands manager Daniel Farke’s game plan would have benefited from fervent support. Norwich sat deep in a 4-1-4-1 manner, looking to stay compact and hit United at halftime. Every tackle would have been applauded, every counterattack roared. The momentum would build. Instead, it seemed that Norwich was delaying the inevitable.
However, that does not mean that United was particularly vibrant in the first half. A team with eight changes since the Premier League’s smooth victory over Sheffield United was disjointed. Even Bruno Fernandes couldn’t help falling into a pattern of misplaced passes and wrong runs, although they were always the most likely to score. Teemu Pukki touched the ball in the middle of United only once in the first 30 minutes, a sign of how isolated the Finland striker was since Norwich apparently did not have the legs, or the will, to advance.
Maguire blocked Lukas Rupp’s shot when the first half came to an end, but none of the goalkeepers worked until Odion Ighalo scored with the first target shot either side had made.
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Six minutes after the restart, Luke Shaw too easily defeated Emi Buendía on United’s left and crossed into the box. Juan Mata lifted the ball in the air but went to Ighalo, who found himself in space and directed a shot with the outside of his right foot past Tim Krul.
Fernandes’s arrival in January has been rightly announced due to his remarkably consistent solo exhibits and the confidence boost he has seemingly given to those around him, but the Ighalo acquisition is proving to be more useful than many believed possible. This was his fifth goal since signing on loan with Shanghai Shenhua. All of them have come to cup competitions and while the 31-year-old did not strike fear into the hearts of the best defenders, he has lightened the burden on Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, and has shown a genuine love for the club that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes he could infect others.
Rashford, and later Martial, were required here, however, after Norwich defied conditions and logic to match. Todd Cantwell’s 75-minute shot didn’t have the most power, but goalkeeper Sergio Romero’s sloppy attempt to dive to his left was compounded by the ball’s deflection at a crucial moment.
Norwich suddenly seemed excited. Buendía fired a shot just across the right post from Romero. Onel Hernández drove purposefully into the box, only to be stopped by an excellent sliding tackle from United substitute Brandon Williams. The pendulum had swung so much that the visitors were in second place when the game moved decisively in their favor, despite calling the cavalry in the form of Rashford, Paul Pogba, Mason Greenwood, Nemanja Matic and Brandon Williams.
Fernandes’ clever movie gave Ighalo a chance to convert Klose. Norwich central rugby knocked Ighalo to the ground, but somehow possessed the audacity to protest his red card from referee Jon Moss. United spent the rest of the normal time camped out in the middle of Norwich, but the home team held on.
Imagine how the local fans would have responded.
The singing of the crowd played over the public address system, as both the second half and overtime began were a pale imitation. Norwich was under the cosh, a downcast but struggling man, dismissing as the overtime resembled an attack versus defense game.
Solskjaer pitched Martial for Eric Bailly in an attempt to overwhelm Norwich, but they managed to get through the first additional period intact. The singing of the AP crowd reappeared, seemingly louder but nothing like the crescendo that the real thing would have reached now. Krul flung himself to his left to avoid a Maguire header. Wave after wave of pressure from United pushed Norwich back, but a penalty shootout was in sight.
That was until the 118th minute. Pogba played the ball against Ighalo in the box. He helped Martial and, as Ben Godfrey struggled to clear, Maguire launched to sweep the ball with his left foot.
United’s relief was palpable. Norwich was dejected, having given so much only to fall short. Krul’s antics on penalties are infamous, but he was denied an opportunity to open his cheat box.
“It felt strange to play this type of game behind closed doors, especially this game because it was the biggest success for this club in the FA Cup by [almost] 30 years, “Farke said after the game.” It would have had a fantastic atmosphere and made our fans proud, but I think that is what we have also done with this performance and this desire. We want to feel the interaction and create new memories for them, but it is a new normal at this time. At least we can play soccer. “
A banner spread over a section of empty seats at the far end of the floor reads: “You can’t see us and you can’t hear us, but we’ll always be with you.” How Norwich missed them today.
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