Mohamed Toure continued his remarkable start to life at Norwich City, scoring a stoppage-time header to secure a 3-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday. The 21-year-old Australian international, who joined the Canaries from Danish side Randers FC, has now netted five goals in just three appearances for his fresh club.
Toure entered the match as a second-half substitute with Norwich leading 1-0 and after West Brom equalized through Josh Maja, Benjamin Chrisene restored Norwich’s advantage. Toure then sealed the win in the 93rd minute, heading home a cross from Anis Ben Slimane.
Norwich manager Philippe Clement praised Toure’s humble personality despite his on-field success. “I don’t have the feeling with him that I need to manage him a lot, because he’s really humble. He’s even quite introvert,” Clement said. Clement recounted an anecdote from the team’s tradition of new players singing a song, noting Toure was “not really up to that, and it was not really a big performance.” He added, “I told him likewise after the game that I was really happy that this performance on the pitch was much better than in his singing contest!”
Toure himself described his rapid adaptation to English football as “crazy.” “It’s been one of my dreams for a long time, coming to England to play football and I didn’t expect to be at such a big club so quick. Now I’m here at Norwich and I just want to enjoy every moment,” he said after scoring a hat-trick in a midweek match against Oxford United.
The victory sends Norwich into the fifth round of the FA Cup. The match also saw Paris Maghoma score his first goal for Norwich, opening the scoring with a header in the first half. Norwich were without top goalscorer Jovon Makama due to foot surgery, and Josh Sargent remains unavailable after refusing to play last month, placing added importance on the contributions of Toure and Maghoma.
Elsewhere in the FA Cup, Sandro Tonali scored twice as Newcastle United defeated Aston Villa 3-1, while Marc Guehi scored his first goal for Manchester City in a 2-0 win over Salford. Mansfield Town produced a major upset, defeating Premier League side Burnley 2-1, and Crysencio Summerville scored in extra time to give West Ham a 1-0 victory over Burton.
The results of the fourth round were as follows: Burton 0 West Ham 1, Burnley 1 Mansfield 2, Manchester City 2 Salford 0, Norwich 3 West Brom 1, Southampton 2 Leicester 1, Aston Villa 1 Newcastle 3.
