Norwich City 0, Tottenham Hotspur 2: Luck and the fact that you make your own is a cliché managers love and of course there is an element of truth to it.

Sometimes, however, ill-fortune plays such a large part in a result they can resort only to the traditional alternative that their team will play an awful lot worse and win and so it was with Norwich's manager Nigel Worthington yesterday.

In fairness to the Northern Irishman there was not much else he could say after his team hit the woodwork twice, had two efforts cleared off the line and suffered three first-half injuries before Spurs, unbelievably lackadaisical for an hour, finally woke up and took advantage to register their fifth win in five matches, a record for the club in the Premiership.

"I thought the performance was magnificent. We were top class, both in attitude and the way we played, but that's football and you just have to get on with it," said Worthington, trying desperately hard to be upbeat before turning his attention to which of his young reserves he would have to draft in for tomorrow's trip to Middlesbrough.

It started going wrong for Norwich in the seventh minute, when Simon Charlton had to be replaced by Adam Drury.

A minute later Darren Huckerby swapped wings from left to right and played the ball inside for David Bentley. The Arsenal loanee casually volleyed beyond Paul Robinson, only for the ball to bounce out of the inside of the post.

Soon afterwards Huckerby was tripped by Michael Brown on the edge of the penalty area and, with the subsequent free-kick, picked out Gary Doherty's run. The centre-half's header gave Robinson no chance but Pedro Mendes was on the post to hack clear.

While Bentley continued to trouble Robinson with his shooting from distance, it was Leon McKenzie who came closest to giving Norwich the lead they deserved.

Huckerby's long ball should have been dealt with by Ledley King but McKenzie somehow got his foot to the ball to poke it past Robinson only for Noureddine Naybet to clear.

Such was Norwich's superiority it looked as though the decision of the Spurs manager, Martin Jol, to rest Jermain Defoe was going to backfire badly.

On 50 minutes McKenzie leapt and twisted to get his head to Huckerby's corner ahead of King and once again beat Robinson; this time the ball came back off the bar.

But the longer the game went on the more one sensed Norwich were going to get mugged. Defoe finally arrived, to be greeted by the chant of "Chelsea's number one" by the Norwich fans, but it was Robbie Keane who took advantage of poor defending, first by Craig Fleming, who unaccountably headed a corner back across his own goal, and then by Drury, who scuffed his clearance. With his left foot Keane buried the chance.

Finally and inevitably the Norwich heads dropped and two minutes later Brown was given time and space to move forward and drive a shot past Robert Green from 22 yards.

"It's about 90 minutes," said Jol, reacting to the suggestion his team had ridden their luck.

"They pressurised us and we gave away two or three chances in the first-half but don't exaggerate, because in the second period we played possession and dominated, and I was pleased with that."

"We have a terrific bunch of players, and it is all about a good mentality and trying to play in a way you believe in.

"We believe in playing good football, from the back and the midfield through to the strikers. To get 15 points is great for us, so I am a happy man," he concluded.

Guardian Service