Wayne Rooney admitted his Plymouth side got what they deserved after crashing to a humiliating 6-1 defeat at Norwich, saying that “it can’t carry on like this”.
Borja Sainz led the way for the hosts with his second hat-trick of the season, as Argyle slipped to their third heavy away defeat in the Championship this term following earlier big losses at Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff.
“We were nowhere near good enough – we are down to the bare bones with injuries but that is no excuse,” said Rooney.
“We were fortunate to be only 2-1 down at half-time. You then hope for a reaction in the second half, but once they made it 3-1 I thought we went under, which is very disappointing. The players just didn’t look like they thought they could get back in it.
“We need to be a lot better than that – the next 24 to 48 hours are not going to be very nice for the players.
‘We have got to get to the bottom of why it keeps happening’
“I have praised them a lot this season for their performances at home – but away needs to be much better than this and we have got to get to the bottom of why it keeps happening – it can’t carry on like this.
“I just feel sorry for the fans who have come all this way – they will be not be pleased with what they have seen tonight.”
Norwich were all over Plymouth in the opening stages, taking the lead after just two minutes when Sainz fired home, the visitors appealing in vain for offside.
After incessant pressure, Sainz doubled his side’s advantage after 17 minutes with his latest cool finish and, although Mustapha Bundu pulled one back just before half-time after a risky pass out had been intercepted, it was one-way traffic again in the second half.
Shane Duffy quickly made it 3-1 by heading in a corner before Sainz completed his hat-trick just after the midway point of the half by curling the ball past an exposed Daniel Grimshaw.
Substitute Anis Ben Slimane and Ante Crnac produced a couple of smart finishes late on to make it a miserable night for Rooney’s men.
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup was delighted to see his side bounce back to winning ways after failing to win any of their previous seven in the Championship.
He said: “It was great to see the side scoring goals again – that is what pleased me most about tonight. It’s the reason we play the way we do, to create chances and score goals.
‘With the way he is playing I am not looking forward to January’
“I was really pleased with the way we started the game, it got the crowd going and lifted the atmosphere straight away.
“For 20 to 25 minutes I thought we we really good but we then dropped off a bit and allowed them back in it.
“I reminded the players at half-time that they need to be clean and focused on the ball, even when they are on top, and in the second half we were better.”
As for Sainz, who now has 15 goals to his name this season, Thorup added: “He keeps getting in the same sort of positions again and again and then shows his individual quality to score the goals.
“With the way he is playing at the moment I am not looking forward to January, that’s for sure!”
