Why is it that memories of joyful times fade quickly, while the painful moments linger so vividly?
Hyeong-min, pondering this to himself, rephrased the question.
Is it more agonizing to dominate a strong team and still lose absurdly, or to be dragged into a grueling draw by a weaker side?
"Arghhh!"
In the 82nd minute of the second half, watching his team concede an equalizer right before his eyes, Hyeong-min clutched his head and let out a scream filled with anguish.
Beside him, assistant coach Arthur and every player on the bench expressed similar frustration.
After the Arsenal match, where it felt like Lady Luck had slapped them across the face, Burnley had stormed into Crystal Palace's home ground in Premier League Round 13, securing a 3-1 victory—a fleeting moment of joy.
But then, in Round 14, they lost 1-0 at home to Leicester.
Now, in Round 15, facing Norwich City Football Club—a team with 3 wins, 4 draws, and 7 losses, sitting at a surprisingly decent 14th place despite being a relegation contender—Burnley was staring at a 2-2 draw.
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### Roughly 100 Minutes Earlier
A light drizzle fell over Norwich's home ground, Carrow Road.
For December weather in England, typically a mix of snow, rain, and wind, it was relatively mild.
Norwich, a club that had bounced between the Premier League and the Championship in recent seasons, earning the nickname "yo-yo club," was now under the command of Dean Smith, who until recently had been Aston Villa's manager.
Dean Smith was the protagonist of this season's bewildering "managerial pinball" in English football.
On November 7, after a run of five consecutive losses, Aston Villa's co-owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, fed up with poor results, sacked him.
The very next day, Norwich—having just fired their own underperforming manager, Daniel Farke—swooped in and appointed the newly unemployed Dean Smith as their new head coach.
Dean Smith walked away from Aston Villa with a hefty severance package.
Norwich snagged a coveted manager from another team without paying a penny in compensation.
And Dean Smith? He landed a new job in just one week.
While Daniel Farke, Norwich's previous manager, was left with a single, sad defeat to his name, Dean Smith had been in charge of Norwich for about a month. With his seasoned leadership and the shock therapy of a managerial change, Norwich had climbed from the relegation zone to 14th place, markedly improving their form.
Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard, Liverpool legend and Aston Villa's new manager, hadn't managed to significantly outperform Dean Smith, casting doubt on the Villa owners' hasty decision to sack him.
Dean Smith, who'd once invited Hyeong-min's Burnley to Villa Park during his Aston Villa tenure and suffered a 3-0 thrashing, lined up against Burnley in a 4-3-3 formation. Though Norwich's recent upward momentum had cooled, Burnley—currently 6th in the league—remained a formidable opponent.
However, with wingers Josh Sargent and Kieran Dowell dropping deep into midfield, it resembled a 4-1-4-1 setup more than a 4-3-3, with nine outfield players—aside from lone striker Adam Idah—focused on defense.
Hyeong-min didn't pay much attention to media or pundit predictions, but his own analysis led him to instruct his squad to expect Norwich to sit back defensively while Burnley pressed high and exploited wide spaces.
At kickoff, Norwich's players, with grim determination, bunkered down inside their penalty box at their home ground.
Only striker Adam Idah ventured outside the box, tasked with disrupting Burnley's attacking buildup.
Burnley's defenders and midfielders reveled in the freedom and space they hadn't experienced since facing lower-league teams in cup competitions over the past few seasons, circulating the ball with ease.
Meanwhile, Burnley's forwards struggled against Norwich's tenacious, leech-like defending, with two or three opponents clinging to them at all times.
"Ugh! Get off me!"
Karim Adeyemi, Burnley's starting right winger, snapped irritably at Norwich's left-back Brandon Williams, who stuck to him relentlessly, ignoring size or position.
"Didn't Hannibal tell you about me?"
The serious-faced blonde defender, clinging tightly to Adeyemi—who towered over him by at least 10 centimeters—asked.
"Hannibal? What about him? And how do you even know Hannibal?"
"I'm on loan from Manchester United too. Anyway, that's not the point…"
Karim Adeyemi kept moving, darting up and down the right flank, but the young defender stayed glued to him, even resting a hand on his jersey to maintain distance.
"Didn't Hannibal tell you my nickname?"
"Ugh… What's your nickname?"
Karim asked in a tone that screamed he couldn't care less.
"Bloodsucking Leech."
"…You talk a lot more than you look like you would."
Karim sneered, but Brandon Williams just grinned and kept shadowing him.
Frustrated by the unshakable mentality of his opponent, Karim clicked his tongue inwardly.
*This guy… I saw in the video analysis he's fast too…*
Realizing he'd met his match today, Karim Adeyemi cast a slightly despairing glance at the defender latched onto him.
With Karim Adeyemi, Dwight McNeil, and Chris Wood all shackled by Norwich's defenders and midfielders, Burnley's three midfielders—who'd been enjoying their freedom—exchanged glances.
Trying to force their way into the penalty box would obviously result in being repelled by Norwich's fierce defending.
Burnley, a team that had solidified its Premier League standing over the past few seasons with ironclad defense, knew this better than anyone.
Better to take mid-range shots from outside, hoping for a goal if luck was on their side—or at least to make Norwich realize that camping in their penalty box wasn't a winning strategy.
The manager had, after all, given detailed instructions on how to handle a team fully committed to defense.
**5th minute.**
After another exchange of glances, Burnley's three midfielders sprang into action.
Hannibal, receiving the ball, began dribbling toward a midpoint between central striker Chris Wood—trapped in the heart of the penalty box—and right winger Karim Adeyemi, positioned along the right sideline.
"Stick to your man!"
Norwich goalkeeper Angus Gunn barked, ensuring his defenders didn't all get drawn to the advancing Burnley midfielder.
Norwich's center-back Grant Hanley, roaming freely like a sweeper, moved to double-team Chris Wood alongside Andrew Omobamidele.
Jacob Sørensen, who'd been marking Chris Wood with Omobamidele, shifted to stick to Hannibal Mejbri as he tried to penetrate the penalty box.
At that moment, Burnley's defensive midfielder Nicholas Seiwald—who rarely ventured into the penalty box—suddenly surged forward from the left.
"Left! Left!"
Norwich's right-back Max Aarons, tasked with marking Burnley's left winger Dwight McNeil, hesitated between sticking to McNeil and covering the newly advancing Seiwald.
As the attention of Norwich's other defenders and midfielders briefly shifted to Seiwald, Hannibal Mejbri twisted his right ankle 120 degrees, flicking the ball backward.
The ball rolled toward the center of the penalty arc, where Josh Brownhill—having slyly shaken off Norwich's central midfielder Kenny McLean—received it.
As Norwich's players flinched, Josh Brownhill, with a smooth touch, unleashed a shot with his vaunted right foot.
The powerful strike rocketed past a motionless Angus Gunn into the top right corner of the net.
"WOOOAAAHH!!!"
Burnley's players and away fans erupted in wild celebration as the stadium announcer calmly reported the home team's concession.
"Goal. Burnley's number 8, Josh Brownhill, scores."
Josh Brownhill, elated at scoring a rare mid-range shot from outside the penalty box, barely had time to savor it.
In the 35th minute, Norwich's Adam Idah equalized.
A long ball launched forward by Norwich goalkeeper Angus Gunn.
With captain Ben Mee rested due to fatigue from the grueling schedule, substitute Nathan Collins lost a short sprint to Norwich's striker Adam Idah, leaving Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope in a 1-on-1 situation.
Norwich's prized youth academy product didn't hesitate, firing a shot to Pope's right and rippling the net.
Caught off guard by the unexpected equalizer, Burnley's players faltered as the game moved into the second half, ushering in a new dynamic.
*Whistle!*
"You bastard!"
As Josh Brownhill writhed in pain from a back tackle, furious Burnley players rushed over and surrounded the culprit.
"You did that on purpose!"
"What are you talking about? It was an accident!"
"Don't bullshit me! You went in with your studs up!"
James Tarkowski, seething with rage, grabbed the collar of Norwich's defensive midfielder Jacob Sørensen, who spread his arms to protest his innocence.
"Whoa! Whoa! Stop it!"
Players from both teams and the referee rushed in to separate them, but James Tarkowski's anger drowned out their pleas.
As Burnley veterans like Chris Wood, Matt Lowton, and Charlie Taylor dragged Tarkowski back, the referee, after a brief VAR consultation, blew his whistle.
Norwich's Jacob Sørensen received a straight red card.
The problem? The referee then pulled out a yellow card and issued a warning to James Tarkowski.
"Why me?!"
Tarkowski stormed over, pleading his case, but the referee mimed grabbing a collar.
"Does this make sense? Grabbing another player's collar on the pitch? Be thankful it's just a warning."
Amid the crowd's boos, Jacob Sørensen trudged off, while Nicholas Seiwald and Nathan Collins forcibly dragged Tarkowski—who tried to protest again—away.
"Uh, James?"
Nathan Collins, his center-back partner, called out cautiously, prompting an irritated response from Tarkowski.
"What now?!"
"Just… over there…"
Following Nathan Collins' gesture, Tarkowski turned to see his manager and assistant coach glaring at him, arms crossed, their faces stiff with displeasure at the unnecessary booking of their starting center-back.
"Oh… I'm screwed…"
Suddenly snapping back to reality, James Tarkowski muttered under his breath.