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Norwich logo
Premier League
Nov 9, 2013 at 5.30pm UK
 
West Ham logo

3-1

Hooper (54' pen.), Snodgrass (72'), Fer (93')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Morrison (32')

Live Commentary: Norwich City 3-1 West Ham United - as it happened

Relive Sports Mole's coverage of the match at Carrow Road as Norwich City took on West Ham United.
2

Norwich City welcomed West Ham United to Carrow Road for tonight's evening match in the Premier League.

Despite taking a first-half lead through Ravel Morrison, the Hammers were unable to keep out Norwich, who came out invigorated in the second half. They secured the win with goals from Gary Hooper, Robert Snodgrass and Leroy Fer.

Read how the match unfolded below with our minute-by-minute commentary.


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Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of today's late kickoff between Norwich City and West Ham United.

Much of the pre-match coverage to this match has focused on Chris Hughton and whether or not he is under pressure. Last week's 7-0 defeat to Manchester City was an abject display, however, so the home side will be desperate to get a win tonight.

Let's take a look at the teams.

NORWICH CITY: Ruddy; Martin, Turner, R Bennett, Olsson; Snodgrass, Howson, Fer, Pilkington; Elmander, Hooper.

SUBS: Bunn , Whittaker, Johnson, Bassong, Hoolahan, Becchio, Redmond.

WEST HAM: Jaaskelainen; Demel, Collins, Tomkins, Rat; Noble, Nolan, Collison, Downing, J.Cole; Morrison

SUBS: Adrian, O'Brien, McCartney, Maiga, Jarvis, Diame, C.Cole

So, Norwich opt for two up front but Sebastien Bassong does make way for Ryan Bennett. West Ham again do not have a recognised striker in their team, although Carlton Cole is on the bench.

The players make their way out onto the pitch. Get ready for the action.

PREDICTION Just time for a quick prediction. Despite Norwich's poor form and last week's performance, I think the home fans might make the difference this evening, so I'm going for 2-1 to the home side.

KICKOFF: Both sets of fans observe the minute's silence with great respect, and now we're off.

CHANCE! It's been a decent start by Norwich and they test Jussi Jaaskelainen as Anthony Pilkington breaks away from the away defence and makes his way into the box. However, his shot is comfortably dealt with by the former Bolton goalkeeper.

Norwich look the more dangerous of the two teams in the early stages. This time, after they clear a West Ham free kick, the Canaries break and Hooper looks to get in, but the pass to him has too much pace on it.

West Ham's first foray into Norwich territory sees Collison find Downing on the edge of the box. However, the former Liverpool man has a wall of yellow in front of him and his shot is charged down.

CHANCE! Leroy Fer is pressured in to giving the ball away and the ball makes its way to Nolan. He plays in Rat who volleys wide with his left foot with just the keeper to beat. However the referee stops plays and awards the away side a free kick outside the area.

SAVE! It should be 1-0 to the Hammers. The initial free kick is blocked, but Norwich fail to clear properly and Nolan is played in. Ruddy makes himself big and the ball strikes his left leg. Big miss.

HITS THE BAR! It really should be 1-0 now. A West Ham corner is floated in and Demel, the right back, jumps highest to power a header off the bar. I'm not sure if Ruddy would have been beaten had it been lower, but that was poor defending from the home side.

Norwich are struggling to deal with the Hammers at the moment. The home side seem to be outnumbered in the middle of the park and Sam Allardyce will be pleased with his team's start.

That's better from the home side as they win a corner from Hooper's good work down the right.

However, it's cleared without much fuss and West Ham go back to dominating the ball.

The away team really do look composed on the ball tonight. They are switching play from one side to the other and waiting for the right moment to strike.

The one criticism Allardyce might have of his players is that all of their possession has only resulted in one very good chance from open play. Nevertheless, they do look the more likely to score and the home crowd is very quiet.

SAVE! Rat has looked very lively tonight, and his work down the left sees him whip in a cross that Nolan flicks towards goal. Ruddy is there, however, to make a comfortable save.

Oh dear, Fer. A poor clearance from Ruddy actually leads to Norwich spreading the ball in midfield. The ball comes to Fer on the right, but his pass to Snodgrass is poor and is he unable to prevent it from going out for a throw in. That could have been promising.

Rat is enjoying so much time and space and Hughton ought to be worried about that. The saving grace for the Norwich boss is that Rat's cross is cleared, but the ball just keeps coming back at the home defence.

GOAL! NORWICH 0-1 WEST HAM (MORRISON)

What was I just saying about Rat? Again he is free on the left and his low cross is turned towards goal by Nolan. That shot is blocked, but Nolan manages to keep the ball in and cuts it back to Morrison, who has the simple job of tapping in. That is fully deserved for the visitors.

Norwich are forced into an early change as Nathan Redmond comes on to replace Anthony Pilkington, who is injured.

The pattern of play has not changed one bit since that goal. West Ham have the ball, Norwich are doing all the chasing.

SHOT! Finally, something to cheer about for the home fans. Redmond receives the ball on the edge of the box and fires at goal. However, the shot is poor and it sails over the bar.

That will hurt in the morning! Snodgrass gets a boot in the face as he dives to head the ball. It didn't look like there was any intent from Tomkins, but Snodgrass looks a little dazed.

This pretty much sums up Norwich's half of football. Ruddy has acres of space in which to find a yellow and green shirt but his goal kick floats out of play. The murmurs of discontent around Carrow Road are increasing in volume.

HALF TIME: NORWICH 0-1 WEST HAM

Well, the half-time whistle goes and the Norwich players walk off the pitch knowing they have to improve in the second half. If the fans expected a response after the 7-0 defeat against Manchester City, they will be bitterly disappointed.

Well, the half-time whistle goes and the Norwich players walk off the pitch knowing they have to improve in the second half. If the fans expected a response after the 7-0 defeat against Manchester City, they will be bitterly disappointed.

The stats show that West Ham had 57% of possession and nine shots compared to Norwich's two. Perhaps more revealing, however, is that West Ham had 12 touches in the opponent's half. Norwich? Just two.

Norwich are clearly lacking confidence and in truth they are lucky to be only 1-0 down. Even though the visitors haven't had multiple clear-cut chances, they are dangerous when they go forward, particularly down the left.

So, what can Norwich do? Well, as I said, Rat is causing them all sorts of problems, so maybe Hughton could ask his players to double up when he's on the ball. More than anything, though, is the lack of creativity in this Norwich side this evening. Hoolahan is the bench, and I think we could see him come on if things don't improve in the early stages of the second half.

SECOND HALF UNDERWAY: The second half begins and what a big half it is for Norwich.

It has been a scrappy start to the second half with both teams giving the ball away.

BOOKING! Turner is the first man booked this evening for a challenge on Nolan and West Ham have a free kick in a very dangerous position.

Morrison's curler hits the wall and now Norwich counter attack. Martin runs down the right and although he slips, the ball runs out for a home corner.

PENALTY TO NORWICH!

GOAL! NORWICH 1-1 WEST HAM (HOOPER)

Norwich are awarded a penalty when Jaaskelainen spills the ball under pressure from Turner and then brings down Hooper. The former Celtic striker steps to take it himself and powers it down the middle to draw the sides level.

CLOSE! Oh! So close! West Ham are inches away from retaking the lead just minutes after Hooper's goal. The ball drops to Collins in the box and his volley whistles just past the post. That was a big let-off for the home side.

The home fans are in much better voice now and whatever Hughton said at the break is working. His players are sharper on the ball and are chasing every ball.

The Norwich fans want a red card for Rat after he tussles with Snodgrass. The former was standing over his opponent and appeared to angle his knee at Snodgrass's head. However, the referee calms the situation with a few words.

West Ham have just lost their way at the moment. Their passing isn't as sharp as it was in the first 45 minutes and Norwich are doing a good job of restricting them to very little space.

Not much to report on in terms of chances in the last few minutes. There does appear to be some action on the West Ham bench, however. Sam Allardyce obviously feels a change is needed if his side are to regain their dominance of the first half.

HITS THE BAR! And as I type that, Howson crashes a brilliant, curling effort against the bar. Jaaskelainen was nowhere near that. So unlucky for Norwich.

GOAL! NORWICH 2-1 WEST HAM (SNODGRASS)

The comeback is complete! Norwich take the lead with a superb free kick from Robert Snodgrass. The midfielder whipped it over the wall and into the top corner. Again, Jaaskelainen had no chance of saving it. Now, can Norwich keep this up?

This is a different game to that of the first half. It's West Ham's turn to look ragged and at the moment you'd have to say that Norwich are the favourites to go on and win it.

SAVE! Nearly 3-1 to Norwich! Again the West Ham defence are unable to get close to the ball, which leaves Hooper with a chance from a tight angle. However, despite hitting the shot well, Jaaskelainen gets down well to save.

MISS! All of the chances are falling for the Canaries and this time Snodgrass plays in a simple pass that evades the Hammers defence. Elmander takes one touch before twisting and shooting over.

During all of that West Ham made a double substitution, with Carlton Cole and Mohamed Diame coming on for Collison and Joe Cole.

GREAT CHANCE! It should be game over at Carrow Road. The ball comes into the West Ham box and, after bobbling around, it falls to Snodgrass. His trusty left foot lets him down, though, and he shins his shot harmlessly over the bar.

MISS! If West Ham do grab a late equaliser, then Norwich will have only themselves to blame. It's Redmond's turn to blaze over after he worked space just inside the penalty area.

GOAL! NORWICH 3-1 WEST HAM (FER)

What a remarkable second-half performance from Norwich. They wrap this game up with a solo goal from Leroy Fer, who gets his first goal in English football. The midfielder wins the ball and then drives forward, slipping the ball across Jaaskelainen to send the home fans into raptures.

FULL TIME: NORWICH 3-1 WEST HAM

I don't know about you, but I never saw that coming at half time. West Ham were in total control and Allardyce will surely have serious questions to ask his players. However, Norwich should be congratulated for what was a brilliant comeback.

The wins means Norwich climb to 15th in the Premier League, above today's opponents.

That's all from Carrow Road this evening. Thanks for joining us at Sports Mole. Be sure to stick around for all of today's reaction.

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Norwich Manager Chris Hughton looks on during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester City and Norwich City at Etihad Stadium on November 2, 2013
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