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Mario Vrancic glad Norwich City are getting ahead of the game against Championship rivals
Mario Vrancic's two goals helped Norwich City book their place in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup. Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Norwich City have already come a long way since their Millwall thrashing – and that is no coincidence for Mario Vrancic.
City’s Bosnian midfielder notched his first two goals since joining in the summer, helping City into the last 16 of the Carabao Cup with victory at Brentford.
That was the Canaries’ third win in a four-game unbeaten run, following their 4-0 hammering at The Den and subsequent international break.
In fact, it took 361 minutes for City to concede another goal – a remarkable situation given their previous eight concessions in the space of a week.
“We trained a lot during the international break on our defensive behaviour because we were definitely conceding too many goals in the first five or six games,” said Vrancic.
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“It is easier when you score after 15-20 minutes, like we did here. Then it’s quite easier to defend with a little bit more self confidence. I think the first five or six games, after the first 20 minutes we always conceded a goal, so then you lose that.
“But it’s better if we speak more and we are helping each other. During the international break we trained it a lot and yes, we have to now carry it on of course.
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“The boss said always we were conceding too many goals in the first minutes and it’s hard to score after you concede first. So everybody is now able to defend, but I don’t know why it’s changed – maybe it’s just luck and us improving our game. Just a bit of everything.”
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Mario Vrancic celebrates his superb free-kick at Brentford. Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Vrancic again showed what he can do with the ball at his feet at Griffin Park – his cool penalty, delicious free-kick and all-round composed performance reminded everyone what a useful player head coach Daniel Farke has in his midfield armoury.
He added: “I am pretty happy to score my first goals for Norwich. It helps you to settle in when you get the goals, you get more self confident for sure, but of course you have to carry on with this and I’m just doing my job.
“It was not so calm with the penalty. I was pretty nervous. I considered to shoot in the middle but then I saw the goalkeeper still stood on his feet, and I hadn’t chosen a corner. So it maybe looked easy but it wasn’t that easy.
“And then the second one, I train a lot after the sessions – it’s me and James Maddison every week for 20 minutes one day before the game – so I’m pretty happy that I could score from a free-kick.”
• For the latest Norwich City news and opinion follow Michael Bailey on Twitter @michaeljbailey, Facebook @mbjourno and Instagram @mrmichaeljbailey
