ROBBIE BRADY PUT in a man of the match performance at Carrow Road as Norwich came from behind to get a point against Arsenal today.
The Ireland international impressed throughout and it was his fine run and pass that set up for Lewis Grabban for Norwich’s equaliser just before halftime.
Mesut Ozil put the Gunners ahead on the half-hour mark after a rushed kick from Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy ended up at the feet of Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean found his German team-mate who coolly dinked the ball into the net.
Arsenal would later lose Sanchez (hamstring) and centre-back Laurent Koscielny (hip) to injury, adding to Arsene Wenger’s already lengthy injury list.
After the game, Brady was positive although he couldn’t help but feel that the Canaries could have got more out of the game after a second period where they looked the more likely side to score.
“We worked our socks off all night and the point means a bit more when you go behind to a team like Arsenal.
“We stuck to the game plan and got the equaliser. We showed good character to come back into the game and began to look comfortable.
“We created chances and if things had gone our way we would have taken all three points.”
The Gunners remain fourth on the table after missing a chance to leapfrog Manchester United above them.
Norwich caused a few problems with some early set-pieces and Ozil should have opened the scoring for Arsenal when he was picked out in the box by Nacho Monreal. The German dragged his effort off target, with Sebastian Bassong clearing the danger.
Sanchez drew the first good save out of Ruddy, forcing the England goalkeeper to parry a fierce shot from inside the box after a fine run from Santi Cazorla.
But then came Ruddy’s poor clearance in the 28th minute, allowing Sanchez to slip the ball through to Ozil, who clipped a fine finish into the far corner from the left side of the area.
Alex Neil’s team had been comfortably second best but they snatched an equaliser just before the break when Brady fed the ball into the feet of Grabban, who turned Gabriel superbly before rolling the ball beneath Petr Cech.
And Brady’s Ireland team-mate Wes Hoolahan wasted a glorious chance for a second in stoppage time as he side-footed over the crossbar when picked out unmarked at the far post by Andre Wisdom.
Ruddy endured another nervy moment when he completely missed a high bouncing ball from a Sanchez cross early in the second half, but Martin Olsson was on hand to hook clear off the line and away from Ozil.
The game had descended into a more scrappy affair and Arsenal were dealt a further blow when Sanchez was forced off with a hamstring injury after pulling up when running to close down Ryan Bennett in the penalty area.
Hector Bellerin scuffed a shot into the side-netting but the Gunners looked deflated by Sanchez’s exit, while Norwich grew in confidence as the home fans sensed an upset.
Cech made a fine low save to prevent an own goal from Gabriel after Olsson’s cross and Jonny Howson hooked the ball over the bar from six yards from the resulting corner, before Olivier Giroud headed high 12 yards out from a rare half-chance.
Gabriel made a vital interception to clear Olsson’s dangerous cut-back and Joel Campbell just failed to connect with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross in an end-to-end closing 10 minutes, but neither side could find the winner.
