'We were clearly the best team' - Norwich boss delivers verdict on draw with Portsmouth as he has cheap dig at Blues
Philippe Clement had a cheap dig at Pompey as he assesses Norwich’s 1-1 draw with the Blues at Carrow Road
Philippe Clement believes the best team failed to win as Pompey held Norwich City to a draw at Carrow Road on Friday.
The Canaries boss said his side’s failure to kill the game off proved their downfall and provided the Blues a platform to get something from the game.
He also delivered a cheap dig at John Mousinho’s side by claiming the visitors were reliant on long balls, second balls, free-kicks and corners as they secured a much-needed point on the road in their battle against Championship relegation.
Mattsson error proves costly
Pompey earned their draw at Carrow Road when former transfer target Pelle Mattsson diverted the ball into his own net from an Andre Dozzell free-kick on 84 minutes.
His error cancelled out his own 26th-minute opener, as he made the most of the acres of space afford to him on the edge of the Blues’ box to rifle his shot past keeper Nicolas Schmid.
Yet Mattsson’s goal was just one of the two shots on target that the hosts registered, with Schmid having to deal with just one other effort over the 90 minutes.
That shots-on-target count was just one more than what Pompey managed at Carrow Road, with little separating the number of shots registered by both sides as well (Norwich 6, Pompey 5).
However, Clement insisted it was Norwich who deserved more out of the game. And had it not been for their choice of passes in the final third, he believes they would have run out worthy, comfortable winners.
Clement: ‘It’s a game that we should win’
Speaking after the game, the Belgian said: ‘It's a game that we should win.
‘We had a few good moments and then several good moments where we missed the last pass, the last action to kill it off.
‘I think we were clearly the best team on the ball today, maybe not the best team in the air and you concede a goal like that.
‘It's a pity it's also so late in the game that you don't have much time to react and to make the second goal.
‘I think this is what we missed today, to score the second goal, to kill the belief on the other side and like this, they stay in the game.
‘It's a lot of long balls, a lot of fights, second balls, free kicks, corners. We didn't concede many chances.
‘I think it was one shot on target today from Portsmouth, but they get a point with that, so they will be really happy with that.’
‘Also one part of the story’
Pompey registered just one more long ball pass (59) over the 90 minutes than the Canaries (58).
They also recorded more touches in the opposition box (21) than their hosts (20) as they showed a lot more than they did on their last trip on the road against QPR before the international break.
Regardless, Clement used the international break and his players’ involvement with their national teams to also explain his side’s inability to get the better of Pompey.
When asked about Mattsson’s own goal, the former Ranger boss said: ‘That's football and we need to keep them better out of the box.
‘If you score the second goal, it's different and then something like this can happen and you still have the three points. Second or third goal, so we need to continue working in that way.
‘We missed also a lot of players because of international duty, so that was also one part of the story.
‘I've said the things before already. I was disappointed with some decisions of some national coaches who didn't stick to the plans that were before the game around that, but it is what it is and we need to look towards Monday now.’
For your next Pompey read: 50 fantastic photos of jubilant 1,806 Portsmouth faithful celebrating at Norwich City