Norwich City’s Ashley Barnes breaks his silence after embarrassing Leeds United

VaselineMay 21, 2024

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Norwich City’s Ashley Barnes breaks his silence after embarrassing Leeds United

Soccer Soccer – Championship – Play-Off Semi-Final – Second Leg – Leeds United v Norwich City – Elland Road, Leeds, UK – May 16, 2024 Norwich City’s Ashley Barnes arrives before the match Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff EDITORIAL USE ONLY. DO NOT USE WITH UNAUTHORIZED AUDIO, VIDEO, DATA, FIXED LISTS, CLUB/LEAGUE LOGS OR “LIVE” SERVICES. ONLINE IN-MATCH USE LIMITED TO 120 IMAGES, NO VIDEO EMULATION. DO NOT USE IN SINGLE CLUB/LEAGUE/PLAYER BETTING, GAMES OR POSTS. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE FOR MORE DETAILS..

While Leeds United produced a wonderful display to hammer Norwich City, Canaries striker Ashley Barnes became the subject of second-half banter.

Norwich’s game plan to frustrate Leeds and run down the penalty clock, in the words of David Wagner, went up in smoke immediately on Thursday.

Ilia Gruev’s stunning free-kick in the seventh minute set Leeds on course for a huge win as they scored three more to book a place at Wembley with a 4-0 thrashing.

Ashley Barnes on the receiving end of Elland Road

An injury boost for Norwich came in the form of striker Ashley Barnes, who partnered Josh Sargent up front in the second leg.

However, the journeyman was unable to muster any sort of threat apart from his pass to Sargent, which brought Illan Meslier’s huge stop, and was instead chasing shadows like the rest of the away side.

Trying to trouble Junior Firpo by falling to the floor when the left-back pushed him, doing the same when Joe Rodon rose higher for a defensive header in the second half, it was a game where Barnes did his best to upset. Applecart – though to no effect.

At 4-0, Barnes became the focal point of the crowd at Elland Road with a chant not fit to be quoted here and instead of ignoring it, he decided to try and piss off the Leeds fans more as a sign of recognition.

Soon after, Wagner hooked him out of the game and subjected him to a step towards the center field dugout, to an admittedly sarcastic ovation from Leeds.

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Ashley Barnes takes to Instagram after damaging Leeds

The result ended Norwich’s season with Wagner then sacked and leaves them looking to rebuild for 24/25 in the Championship once again.

Barnes broke his silence on the game with this Instagram post:

“A devastating and disappointing night on Thursday night for everyone. Football cultures were erased very quickly!

“Achieving the play-offs was a minimum we managed, but not being able to progress with only ourselves to blame is a blow for everyone. Failures are what make us stronger as individuals and as a group, but the desire to go again and challenge again next season is greater than ever!

“I want to thank the boss and Stuart Webber for bringing me to this amazing football club and for having the privilege of working with so many wonderful people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to prepare and look after us every day and knowing what that is. the club is to them the reason we love our job and do what we do @norwichcityfc.

“Now it’s time to rest and recover and see us all next season stronger than ever.”

Barnes takes the baton from Leeds in good spirits

Barnes will no doubt have wanted the pitch to swallow him up when his number appeared on the fourth official’s scoreboard, receiving so much from the Leeds fans.

He’s the kind of player who thrives on the pantomime villain narrative, though, and it’s not the first time he’s won over Leeds fans.

It didn’t work for him on Thursday, failing to get referee Jarred Gillet to bite on any forced incident from the Norwich striker, leaping to the floor for no reason.