By Gareth James
Erol Bulut accused Cardiff City of lacking fight as they succumbed to a 3-2 home defeat to Norwich City that dropped the Bluebirds down to ninth in the Championship table.
Defeat was Cardiff’s first in four matches, and Bulut slammed his players for their shoddy set-piece defending against the Carrow Road outfit.
“You can lose the game, but not how we lost it in the last 25 minutes – this makes me angry,” Bulut fumed.
“We didn’t fight, we didn’t concentrate, we lost balls too quickly and we knew exactly what they would do. Some players were not concentrating enough.
“We trained for it (set-pieces). We showed the team how Norwich are doing their corner kicks, at the front post, and today they scored the first goal from the front post.
“And at the far post we conceded. The second goal was the same. Two easy goals.”
Erol Bulut: ‘We didn't fight, were not concentrated, lost ba
Linkhttps://t.co/sfdoU5GiMY pic.twitter.com/pd4BKkgzD9— Annis Abraham (@AnnisAbraham) November 12, 2023
Victory lifts Norwich up to 16th in the Championship table.
Cardiff are ninth but stay two points adrift of the top six.
Defeat was Cardiff’s first on home soil since early August and brought an end to their three-match unbeaten sequence.
Christian Fassnacht gave Norwich the lead midway through the first-half with a tap-in at the back post in the Welsh capital.
But Josh Bowler and Callum Robinson both struck before half-time as the Bluebirds led at the break.
Norwich rallied though and won it with late goals from substitutes Onel Hernandez and Adam Idah.
https://twitter.com/npaakmph/status/1723382950828408939?s=20
It was only the Canaries’ second win in 11 matches in all competitions.
Fassnacht and Hernandez – who looked to have got the final touch on Ryan Wintle’s goal bound deflection – both scored from corners.
David Wagner reckons Norwich’s comeback proves he has the full support of his squad.
Wow. Two goals in as many minutes. 3-2 to Norwich. Disaster for Cardiff.
Updates 👇https://t.co/NiAOETm1qy
— Glen Williams (@GlenWilliams12) November 11, 2023
And under-fire boss Wagner thanked his players for the fight they showed against Bulut’s troops.
“I think it’s a deserved win,” said Wagner.
“We have some problems, but how the players took it on board and reacted today was just great to see.
“It was anything but a surprise for me. I love these players.
“I know we don’t have a problem in the dressing room, there’s a good togetherness.
“It shows how tight the dressing room is.
“They were desperate to turn it around and have this winning feeling back.
“We were on a negative run for quite a while, this is never enjoyable.
“But if you still feel the dressing room and everyone else at the club is behind you, you can stand in front of everyone and show the confidence everyone needs from a leader.
“Now hopefully with some players back after the international break, hopefully this is our turning point to continue to at least perform like we did today.”
🗣 "We loved this winning feeling back in the dressing room!"
David Wagner's post-match thoughts 👇 pic.twitter.com/Yt1A3RGNpl
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) November 11, 2023