Paddy Davitt verdict: What took you so long, City?

Defeat in the final analysis at Old Trafford owed as much to fresh individual errors than the predatory instincts of arguably the greatest to ever play the game. Certainly an icon of the modern era alongside Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo is in the twilight of his career but still capable of match-turning interventions, particularly when the generosity from the Canaries proved so bountiful.

Once he rose above the harassed Ben Gibson to double his, and the hosts’ first half lead, you feared the floodgates would open. Pre-match angst and antipathy towards that club’s ownership had dissolved into waves of adoration towards their Portuguese saviour.

But then we witnessed something we have seen far too infrequently under either Daniel Farke or Dean Smith this season in the Premier League. A fightback. Not just in spirit and character but in genuine quality. Attacking, offensive output that rocked the Red Devils and turned those home cheers to toxic chants of ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’, in the aftermath of Teemu Pukki’s leveller to follow Kieran Dowell’s lifeline.

You may recall some of Norwich’s travelling fans directed a similar stinging barb towards their own at Crystal Palace over the festive period. That was truly the nadir of this Smith takeover, when injury and illness tore through his playing resources and the Canaries were unable to take up their full complement on the substitutes’ bench.

Contrast those anaemic, dispiriting displays against Arsenal or the Eagles with the vibrancy of the riposte at Old Trafford. There was no shrinking, no reverting to type when they felt the full force of Ronaldo at his influential best. It was front foot forward, and United’s frailty that was exposed for a spell either side of half-time that may well have led to a famous comeback.

David de Gea was in obdurate mood when he flung himself to his right to keep out Milot Rashica’s dig from 20 yards or so. At that stage, Norwich looked threatening whenever they crossed the half-way line, and surged beyond the brittle defensive barrier erected by the likes of Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes.

Ralf Rangnick could sense the impending doom and called for the stodgy qualities of Nemanja Matic.

But this was still Norwich City and the Premier League. The script had a predictably sour ending. Tim Krul could only divert Ronaldo’s thumping free kick against the inside of his post. By then both Kenny McLean and Dowell had departed. McLean with a suspected broken toe, Dowell with what Smith labelled tiredness, after a disrupted training week, and then Dowell himself added further context by revealing a hamstring concern.

The renaissance of the former Evertonian mirrors Norwich’s nascent revival. Dowell looks a player reborn. Two Premier League starts, a goal and an assist at Old Trafford and surely fresh evidence in the right midfield mix he has plenty to offer.

The reverse ball he threaded through two red shirts for Pukki to race on and beat Gea was pure class. It was the instinctive act of an operator with the technical ability to hold his own at the highest level.

Teemu Pukki and Kieran Dowell were on target for Norwich City (Image: Focus Images Limited)

Why Dowell had failed to stamp his authority on Norwich's season might require academic study. It is a puzzle when you see him on the ball how he was unable to leave a stronger impression until the final throes.

Norwich created opportunities to draw level again, following Ronaldo’s free kick, but the ferocity of their forward motion woven around Pukki’s masterclass had blown itself out.

Yet come the final whistle any sustained applause emanated from the away end. Pogba and pals had to run the gauntlet as they headed for the tunnel, after making hard work of a team written off as Premier League cannon fodder.

Those travelling supporters, many of whom you can be sure were also present at Selhurst Park for that festive low, saluted the effort, the application and the attacking intent of the boys in green and yellow. It did nothing to materially improve their status in the league table, or suggest a great escape is conceivable.

But after Brighton and Burnley it offered more irrefutable evidence there is an identity, and a pattern of play on the counter that can cause a team still in with a chance of a top four finish all manner of discomfort. Whether by accident, design or a mixture of both, City now look cohesive and assured in possession.

They also look prone to a rick or two at the back. Smith will be the last to get carried away. He knows if the game is up this season there is plenty on the line, to engender some rising optimism and confidence for the next chapter. But at least he now appears to have something to work with.