Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup admitted his side were well below par as they went down 2-0 to Bristol City at Carrow Road in the Championship to lose their proud home record.
The Canaries went into the match unbeaten in 24 matches on their own turf, stretching all the way back to November 5 last year when Blackburn came away with a 3-1 win during David Wagner’s tenure as manager.
But, with a number of key men missing, they never got going against the well-organised Robins who took two of the rare chances that came their way to leave with all three points.
“This was a difficult game for us,” admitted Thorup. “I actually thought we started quite well but overall we struggled to find the rhythm and flow needed to create chances. Too many times we did things at a low level, low speed, taking too many touches.
“We need to be a lot better with our tempo and energy.
“At the other end every shot on target seems to be a goal – it has been a tough week for us and it will be good now for us to have a chance to work on things (in the international break).
“I think this shows that when we have some of our experienced players unavailable we are vulnerable, we struggle a bit and it doesn’t take much for us to become a bit shaky. We need to look at that too because even after the break we won’t have all our players back.
“We won’t hide from it – there will be some honest conversations with staff and players and together we will do whatever is needed to make us better.”
The visitors went ahead after 16 minutes as Anis Mehmeti marked his return to Norfolk with a well taken goal.
The former Norwich Academy player was picked out by Haydon Roberts on the edge of the box and took advantage of the time and space he was afforded to curl a low shot into the bottom corner.
Norwich had the bulk of possession after that but there was little end product and just past the hour mark the Robins gave themselves some breathing space by scoring a second.
A careless giveaway allowed skipper Jason Knight a chance to break down the left and having made ground he squared for Nahki Wells to produce an emphatic finish high into the net on his 500th career appearance.
Bristol City boss Liam Manning was delighted to see his side bounce back from a heartbreaking 2-1 home defeat against Sheffield United, when the visitors scored two late goals to take the points.
“It was an excellent response to what happened on Tuesday when we put in an excellent performance only for a bad last 10 minutes to cost us,” he said.
“I thought we were brave on the ball today, defended well and made the most of the chances that came our way.
“The game management was terrific as well – Norwich are a good side and this is a difficult place to come to but I thought we saw it out really well.
“Overall they are a great group who I really enjoy working with. We brought in quite a few young players during the summer who have done well for us and can only get better.
“I am delighted with the level of performances so far and the only disappointment is that we haven’t picked up a few more points.”
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