Norwich City defender Christoph Zimmerman feels Liverpool struggled against them in the last 30 minutes at Anfield. The Reds saw out a 2-1 win.
Liverpool are into the FA Cup Quarter-finals for the first time since 2015. They scraped into it in the end, though. The Reds won 2-1 vs Norwich City at Anfield – a result that really was tighter than it should have been.
Jurgen Klopp’s side took a 2-0 lead into half-time thanks to a Takumi Minamino brace. From there, a rout looked inevitable.
But Liverpool’s tempo dropped quite significantly and in the end, the only subsequent goal came from Norwich. So what happened? Canaries defender Christoph Zimmerman feels his team played a big part in limiting the Reds.
“Even though we were pressing high and risking a bit more, in the last 30 minutes they didn’t have many clear cut chances,” he said, per Canaries.co.uk. “They had their counters but we defended them in the end.
“It showed that we can afford to be brave and press high and trust that we can defend at the back and that makes us a better team.”
Liverpool vs Norwich
Zimmerman is largely right there but we’d argue that Norwich took advantage of a sluggish Liverpool to get back into the game. The Reds just weren’t sharp in the second half, with very slow passing and some sluggish moments near goal.
Credit to Norwich, though – they did press high and did limit Liverpool dramatically from their first-half display. They can certainly take solace in that.
As for the Reds, we think it’s a one-off. A mix of tired legs, a much-changed team and a drop in intensity with the two-goal lead. Altogether, Liverpool just weren’t at their best going forward in the second half vs Norwich.
They still kept their composure and limited Norwich, however, as the visitors chased an equaliser. All in all, nothing to worry about – even if that wasn’t the best last 30 minutes.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
