please log in to view this image Round 2 please log in to view this image Sunderland 0 - 0 Norwich City FT 90'+0' HT 0 - 0Attendance: 00,000 Date: Saturday 15th August 2015 Venue: Stadium of Light Kick-Off: 03:00PM KIO's not606 Match Preview Saturday sees Norwich City make the long journey to The Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland in Round 2 of the Barclays Premier League season still smarting from an undeserved defeat against Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace last time out at Carrow Road. The season's opener saw City have the lion's share of possesion early on but City failed to take their chances with Lewis Grabban guilty of missing arguably two gilt edged chances. Palace duly applied the sucker punch, Wilfred Zaha volleying home from close range just before the break. Things were to get worse for Alex Neil's men and they found themselves 2 down just four minutes into the second period, a well worked corner saw Damien Delaney fire home to put the visitors in total control. However the Canaries rallied and after Nathan Redmond's speculative long range effort on 69 minutes found the net the hosts now seemed to be in the ascendancy. Just 10 minutes later there was a marvelous piece of skill and overhead kick from City frontman Cameron Jerome, but as soon as the ball hit the back of the net for some inexplicable reason rookie Premier League referee Simon Hooper ruled the goal out for 'dangerous play'. This appeared to knock the stuffing out of the Canaries and as they pressed forward in search of that elusive equaliser, there were inevitably gaps left in the defence and Johan Cabaye made sure of the spoils for the Eagles on 90 minutes. please log in to view this image So unlucky, Cameron Jerome Sunderland also had a disappointing start to the campaign as they succumbed to a 4-2 away defeat at Claudio Ranieri's Leicester City. It was an impressive display by the Foxes who were 3 goals to the good after just 30 minutes, Jermain Defoe gave the Black Cats hope with a goal on the hour, but after Marc Albrighton had struck for the Foxes, Steven Fletcher's late header was mere consolation. It therefore goes without saying that both sides will be eager to make amends tomorrow and on current form the eventual result is really too close to call. Defoe aims to topple Premier League's top ten Jermain Defoe sets his sights on the Premier League's top goal scorers Alex Neil's match preview Alex Neil previews tomorrow's game “When teams are at home, they’re probably more offensive in your style and that maybe helps us. “If you look at the teams who are challenging or the teams at the bottom of the table, everybody talks about how crucial your home form is. “If we can back that up by going to get points away from home, then it takes a huge amount of pressure off you when you do come back.” “We’re expecting a bit of a backlash. They didn’t get the result that they wanted and probably not the performance they wanted either,” Current Form (most recent first) Sunderland LLDDW SUNDERLAND HOME In their last 20 home games, 9 of the 17 goals scored by Sunderland have come from forwards, 7 from midfielders and 0 from defenders. In their last 20 home games, 14 of the 30 goals conceded by Sunderland have come from forwards, 13 from midfielders and 3 from defenders. In their last 20 home games, 53% of the 17 goals scored by Sunderland have come in open play, whilst 41% have come from set-pieces. Norwich City LWWDW NORWICH AWAY In their last 20 away games, 17 of the 33 goals scored by Norwich have come from forwards, 14 from midfielders and 1 from defenders. In their last 20 away games, 13 of the 20 goals conceded by Norwich have come from forwards, 5 from midfielders and 2 from defenders. In their last 20 away games, 76% of the 33 goals scored by Norwich have come in open play, whilst 21% have come from set-pieces. MATCH STATISTICS www.kickoff.co.uk Match History There have been 58 competitive meetings between the two sides with the Canaries having beaten the Black Cats on 26 occasions, Sunderland have 15 wins, there have been 17 stalemates. Norwich's biggest margin of victory was by 4 goals to 1 on 7th February 1962 at Roker Park in the Football League Cup. Sunderland's best was a 7-1 mauling of the Canaries on the 20th March 1963 in League Division Two also at Roker Park. The most notable encounter was in 1985 at Wembley Stadium, where Norwich lifted the Milk (League) Cup beating Sunderland by a solitary goal. In truth it was a rather dour affair for the neutral with the only real highlights being Asa Hartford's deflected shot for City and Clive Walker's missed penalty for Sunderland. please log in to view this image Chris Woods, Paul Haylock and Steve Bruce with the Milk Cup Trophy in 1985 Highest Sunderland Score Sunderland 7 Norwich City 1 Highest Norwich City Score Sunderland 1 Norwich City 4 Highest Aggregate Sunderland 7 Norwich City 1 Club Connections Among those who have turned out for both the Black Cats and the Canaries are: Keith Bertschin, Chris Brown, Shaun Elliot, Dickson Etuhu, David Hodgson, Chris Woods, Carlos Cuellar and current City centre back Michael Turner. Former City favourite and Milk Cup winner Steve Bruce also managed Sunderland, as did former City player and manager Martin O'Neil. Did you know ? Ever since the 1985 Milk Cup final the two clubs contest the 'Friendly Cup' each season they are in the same division to commemorate the goodwill shown between the two sets of supporters. Norwich playmaker Wes Hoolahan trialed with Sunderland as a teenager. Current Norwich City scout and ex player Colin Suggett began his career with Sunderland. please log in to view this image Colin Suggett in his City playing days v Liverpool Team Line Ups please log in to view this image Paddy Davitt @paddyjdavitt 3m3 minutes ago #ncfc teamsheet Listen to full match commentary on BBC Radio Norfolk 95.1 & 104.4FM, 855Mhz and DAB Digital Radio with Chris Goreham please log in to view this image and guest match summariser Mark Rivers please log in to view this image ... and don't forget to tune into 'Canary Call' post match with Mark & Rob Butler ! please log in to view this image OTBC
Brilliant work KIO. Let's hope we get our first win!! As I said on the other thread, the Murderers is definitely screening the game tomorrow.
Safe journey to anyone making the long trip. The new fanzone will be open right next to the stadium with a bar and shiz. Enjoy the day.
Well summat's gotta give today folks, either City get their first point(s) on the board or Alex Neil loses his first NCFC away fixture
Good work as usual KIO. Nice bunch of fans too. Hoping for an exciting game, fair ref'ing and 3 points in the bag for City
Safe journey to any NCFC fans coming up today. Think it'll be a tight one, as it usually is when we play at the SOL. Hoping for a sneaky 1-0 win but reckon it'll be a 1-1 draw. All the best for the rest of the season after today!
Rob Butler @BobRutler 13m13 minutes ago Vadis and Andreu both in matchday squad leaving bus a few moments ago. #ncfc
Johnson dropping out is interesting, when Olsson's fit he's certainly going to have a fight to get back in.
