Norwich moves out of relegation zone in a 3-0 win over 10-man Watford at Vicarage Road. Josh Sargent scored twice, and this loss is putting more pressure on Claudio Ranieri.
Until his improvised flick broke the deadlock in the 51st minute, the 21-year-old had not scored in the English top tier since his summer arrival from Werder Bremen.
Sargent scored his and Norwich’s second goals of the game after a well-weighted Milot Rashica cross, lifting the team out of the bottom three.
Soon after, Emmanuel Dennis received a second yellow card for a high foot on Max Aarons, reducing the Hornets to ten men for the last 12 minutes.
When Juraj Kucka redirected a ball from Adam Idah past Daniel Bachmann and into his own net in added time, Norwich put the game beyond the hosts.
When a piece of the floodlights went out in the 60th minute, the game was temporarily suspended. Referee Mike Dean let play to resume without the full lights after an 11-minute delay while the lights flickered on briefly.
The Hornets haven’t won since a 4-1 win against Manchester United in November, and have only just slid into the relegation zone for the first time this season as a result of the result.
The club, on the other hand, has a track record of staying with under-fire managers, so it might be a key week for Claudio Ranieri, who labeled the encounter as a “cup final” before it.
Watch Josh Sargent goal below
The atmosphere was heightened by pre-match theatrics such as fireworks and flames, but there were no notable chances until the 12th minute, when Rashica curled a pass from Sargent just over the Watford goal.
Dennis weaved his way into the box just before halftime and went down in pursuit of a penalty rather than trying to find an unguarded Joao Pedro.
Pedro was spotted by Sissoko at the opening of the second half, but his strike was too high for Angus Gunn to save.
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Norwich took the lead thanks to a brilliant back-heeled flick from Sargent, who scored his first goal for the Canaries.
Teemu Pukki shook off Samir in the build-up, which VAR verified before allowing the goal to stand, then played the ball towards the center of the box, where Sargent put out his leg behind him and the ball rebounded against the crossbar and over the line.
In the 74th minute, the striker headed a Rashica cross past Bachmann for his team’s second goal of the game.
Dennis’ second yellow card put Norwich at a numerical disadvantage, but they were able to finish the game with a 3-0 victory thanks to a Kucka own goal, their first in the Premier League this season.
