Alexis Sanchez injury blow for Arsenal
Never mind the result, which leaves Arsenal two points off the top, in fourth place after a run of three games without a win, but they are such a weaker team without their talisman.
The Chile international was risked by manager Arsene Wenger despite the French coach’s pre-match statement that his best player had struggled with his right hamstring while playing a match-winning role in midweek Champions League action.
A point is not a bad result away from home on a wet and windy East Anglian evening, but adding Sanchez to an injury list that already includes Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky could prove costly.
With key central defender Laurent Koscielny also hobbling out of this match after nine minutes and Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gingerly making their league comebacks from injury yesterday and Santi Cazorla also struggling at the end, Arsenal are on thin ice going into the busy winter fixture programme.
Wenger said afterwards: “We have lost Alexis Sanchez, I do not know how long he will be out but it is a big blow. He says it is just a kick on his hamstring but I fear that is not the reality. He was fine to play when we tested him before. Cazorla finished on one leg. Koscielny we will have to assess him, but he has a bad hip and can not move.
“Sanchez was an important loss and results have not been good for the past three games but we are still in it so we are in a position where we can still do well. Do not worry about us.”
Norwich manager Alex Neil added: “We conceded the first goal and at that point I thought we had pressed the self-destruct button, but we showed great character to get back into the game. In the second half we started a bit slow and invited Arsenal onto us, but as the half wore on I thought we were the better team and the more likely to win.”
It had started so well for Wenger and his players, the Koscielny injury aside, taking a deserved lead through the in-form Mesut Ozil only to be pegged back by a Lewis Grabban equaliser before the sides played out a topsy-turvy goalless second half.
A swirling 70kph driving rain made the match unpredictable at Carrow Road, but Irish international Robbie Brady defied the conditions midway through the first half, sending in a dangerous free-kick from the left in his sparkling silver boots which the often vulnerable Arsenal defence were relieved to head clear.
Brady was taking up his customary role on the left and welcomed international team-mate Wes Hoolahan along side him, recalled to the starting line-up instead of Nathan Redmond.
Norwich boss Neil, at 34, the youngest manager in the Premier League, was trying to shake up a side that had won only one win eight and also recalled Grabban as his sole striker for the first time since the opening day of the season.
Those changes did not mean a change in intent from Neil, who was still betraying the trauma of conceding six goals against Newcastle United a month or so ago, by setting his team out to defend.
But it is a risky tactic to invite Arsenal on and they imploded on 30 minutes when keeper John Ruddy’s poor clearance was mis-controlled by Gary O’Neil, Sanchez pinched the ball and fed Ozil, who finished with a clipped first time shot.
Poor defending, maybe, but finishing of the highest quality from the German midfielder who has become such a key player this season. That strike means he has had a hand in 13 goals in his last 12 league games, scoring two and providing 11 assists.
Norwich were floundering for a while before Brady worked wonders to set up an unlikely equaliser two minutes before the break. He executed a devastating step over, drove inside from the left and picked out Grabban, who rolled Gabriel far too easily and slid the ball under Petr Cech from eight yards out.
Now Arsenal were rocking and Hoolahan had a great chance to score in time added on at the end of the first half only to blast over the bar from close range at the far post.
Norwich reverted to their defensive mindset, though, and Arsenal subsequently regained their confidence, almost regaining the lead before they suffered the severest blow to their hopes when Sanchez succumbed to his hamstring injury and limped off.
Norwich pressed for victory and Hoolahan ‘did a Brady’ by bedazzling Arsenal with some tricky skills on the left to win a dangerous free-kick.
Arsenal survived that threat, but it took all of Cech’s world class quality to keep them level later on when Gabriel almost headed into his own net. Norwich finished stronger and celebrated the draw like a win, although the point leaves them two places above the relegation zone.
Ruddy 6; Wisdom 6, Bennett 6, Bassong 6, Olsson 6; Howson 5 (Redmond 71, 6), Dorrans 5, O’Neil 6, Brady 8; Hoolahan 7 (Odjidja-Ofoe 85, 6); Grabban 7 (Jerome 85, 6).
Rudd, Martin, Mbokani, Mulumbu.
Cech 9; Bellerin 6, Mertesacker 6, Koscielny 6 (Gabriel 9, 5), Monreal 6; Flamini 7, Cazorla 6; Sanchez 7, Ozil 7 (Campbell 60, 6), Ramsey 6 (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 72); Giroud.
Ospina, Debuchy, Chambers, Adelaide.
Jon Moss 7/10 Att: 27,091
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