Norwich City head coach Dean Smith was disappointed that his side couldn’t earn at least a point against Manchester United on Saturday, but was encouraged by the performance overall.
“We deserved more today from the game,” he said. “It was a good performance. Defensively, we had to be strong in the first-half. In the second-half, we were more aggressive and took the game to United and created some good chances in open play and from set-pieces, but we’ve got to be better in those big moments. We’re just not taking our chances at the moment. We certainly worked a world class goalkeeper today and I think he got Man of the Match, which shows how well we did today.”
Smith had to make five changes to his starting lineup, Ozan Kabak, Przemyslaw Placheta, Lukas Rupp, Dimitris Giannoulis and Josh Sargent all coming into the 11.
“They did well,” he said. “Ozan came in and showed that he’s an accomplished player at this level. Lungi came on for Grant and didn’t look out of place at centre-back against Ronaldo and Rashford. Dimi came back in and played. Todd came off the bench and played and Placheta had his first start, so I believed that we had a good squad, but the attitude and application that they’ve been showing in training has been excellent. Results will come if we keep putting in performances like that.
“There’s a growing belief within the squad at the moment, which is really pleasing for myself. They believe that they can get better and go and get results at this level, and I think that’s showing. The support that we’re getting from the fans who are buying into what we’re trying is fantastic. It’s a tough place to come and Manchester United will be the first to tell you that.”
United took the lead when Max Aarons was judged to have fouled Cristiano Ronaldo inside the penalty area, but Smith wasn’t convinced by the decision.
“It was a soft penalty,” he said. “There have been plenty of challenges similar to that during the game that weren’t given, so I’m annoyed because I thought there was a lack of consistency from the officials today. Rashford gave himself a free-kick in the first-half.”
On City’s failure to convert any of their chances against United, Smith was keen to point out David De Gea’s impressive display.
“I don’t know if it’s conviction or what it is,” he said. “The goalkeeper did well today so you have to give him credit. Yes, there are some moments where it gets stuck under our feet a bit, but it’s getting better. If you go and create that many chances against Manchester United, we’re on the right road.
“We’ll concentrate on Aston Villa from tomorrow. At the moment, this is a little bit sore, but we’re going in the right direction.”