Norwich City Fan View: Impressive home form continues with win over Birmingham

Norwich City continued their recent resurgence up the Championship table on Saturday afternoon as they defeated Birmingham City 2-0 at Carrow Road. First half goals from Cameron Jerome and Timm Klose made it 5 wins in our last 6 home games for City as we now move to within just 2 points and 2 places of a play-off position.

After last weekend’s impressive win and performance over Wolves – and with a distinct lack of other available options – it came as little surprise when it was revealed that Alex Neil had opted to stick with the same starting eleven. Aside from the conceding of a soft penalty, City’s defence had looked relatively comfortable against Wolves and the apparent failure of Burnley to meet Robbie Brady’s asking price meant that Neil was able to retain the use of his services at left back. Jonny Howson, so impressive against Wolves, continued his centre-midfield partnership alongside Alex Tettey whilst Jacob Murphy, Wes Hoolahan and the ever-improving Steven Naismith offered the creativity and offensive support for lone striker Cameron Jerome.

Despite the relatively comfortable score-line, it was by no means a vintage performance and nor did the victory come without scare. Even when keeping clean-sheets, it is a well established fact that any Norwich City back four under Alex Neil will give you chances – whether you are Chelsea, Sutton United or indeed, Birmingham. One such chance came after just 15 minutes, and had Lucas Jutkiewicz’s header fallen just an inch lower the outcome of the game could have been very different. Instead, however, it rattled John Ruddy’s crossbar and within 40 second Cameron Jerome had slotted the ball past Tomasz Kuszczak in the Birmingham goal.

Jerome’s disappointing goal tally this season has seen the ex-Birmingham striker be subject to criticism from certain sections of City’s support but there is no denying that his opener on Saturday was one of high quality. In similar fashion to his goal against Middlesborough in the 2014/15 Play-Off final, Jerome dispossessed Blues defender Michael Morrison on the half-way lane before carrying the ball into the Birmingham box and finishing with composure. The goal served as the perfect demonstration of Jerome’s strengths: pace, strength and power. Such goals are the source of huge frustration for Norwich supporters; we know full well what he is capable of but equally we know full well that after scoring such a goal he will most likely spurn numerous far easier chances before he scores again. If consistency was a trait of Jerome’s, however, then he most certainly wouldn’t be a Norwich City player.

Defensive fragility was the order of the day as soon after Jerome’s opener, the Norwich defence allowed Gary Gardener a free header, but, despite being perfectly placed, he managed to balloon the ball over the crossbar. Shortly before the break it was Birmingham’s turn to have another lapse of concentration at the back and once again Norwich capitalised, with Timm Klose being an unlikely scorer after heading home Robbie Brady’s set-piece. Klose’s goal meant that City went into the break with a two goal advantage but in truth the score-line could just have easily been in Birmingham’s failure. The lead was welcome and at this stage of the season it is all that matters, but our vulnerability at the back was once again cause some concern.

Thankfully, despite an ominous opening five minutes, the second half was played out by City with a degree of comfort. Whilst, at half-time, Norwich fans would have had visions of a nervy second period with our fragile back four attempting to withstand a Birmingham onslaught, it was actually us that always looked likelier to score. Steven Naismith got a touch of the Gary Gardener’s as he managed to squander a free header when perfectly positioned and Cameron Jerome, reverting back to his more usual finishing exploits, failed to beat Kuszczak from a matter of yards in the closing stages.

So, back-to-back wins – what a rarity. Just two weeks ago, following our loss to Rotherham, the majority of City fans would have said that our season was already over; our performances were getting worse by the week and the gap between ourselves and the play-offs was ever increasing. Two weeks, and two victories, on, however, and we suddenly look in a well-positioned to launch an assault on the top six. Assuming Sheffield Wednesday win their game in hand, the gap stands at only five points – a figure which is more than surmountable with over three months of football still to play. Whether we do manage to achieve this or not will depend largely on whether we can turn-around our shambolic form away from home. 5 wins in our last 6 at Carrow Road proves that our home form is no issue and this will provide us with the perfect platform for a play-off push, but if we continue to lose on a weekly basis on our travels then the benefits of our home comforts will soon become redundant. With two perfectly winnable away trips to Cardiff and Wigan coming up, the next 8 days will tell us a lot. Pick up two positive results – at least 4 points – and Norwich fans will begin to believe again.