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Watford win at last as Norwich hit rock bottom

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Gerard Deulofeu (Getty Images)
Gerard Deulofeu (Getty Images)

London - Watford got off the mark on Friday with their first win of the Premier League season to climb off the foot of the table at Norwich's expense with a 2-0 victory at Carrow Road.

The Hornets, finishing the game with 10 men, made a dream start as Gerard Deulofeu slotted the ball past Canaries goalkeeper Tim Krul inside the second minute.

Andre Gray doubled his side's lead seven minutes into the second half with an acrobatic backheeled flick.

Watford looked to be easing towards all three points but Christian Kabasele's dismissal, after a second yellow card, left his side a man down for the last 25 minutes.

Norwich looked to make the most of the man-advantage, putting the pressure on the visitors and forcing them back into their half - but they were unable to create clear chances.

The Canaries' defending was questionable at times, and the defence struggled to contain Watford on the counter-attack as a winless run stretching back to September's shock success over Manchester City continued.

With less than a minute and a half on the clock, Deulofeu weaved through the Norwich defenders inside the box before giving his side the lead with a curled effort.

Deulofeu had scored his first goal of the season during the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea the previous weekend and followed it up quickly at Carrow Road.

The visitors almost extended their lead moments later when Daryl Janmaat met a Jose Holebas corner - but the 30-year-old's effort was narrowly over the bar.

Daniel Farke's Canaries started to build after going a goal behind, enjoying more of the possession and Ben Foster came sliding out of the box to deny Onel Hernandez the chance to tap into an empty net.

Both sides had opportunities in a very open game throughout the first half, with Gray coming close with a blocked effort and Teemu Pukki volleying straight at Foster just before the half-time whistle.

Watford started the second half in similar fashion to the first and were rewarded when Deulofeu's cross went to Gray, who twisted to backheel the ball past Krul to double his side's lead.

Facing an uphill task, Norwich came close through Jamal Lewis, whose curled effort forced Foster to deflect the ball behind.

After picking up a booking in the first half, Kabasele was shown a red card by referee Andre Marriner in the 65th minute for a careless foul on Josip Drmic, just as Norwich looked to be gaining some momentum in the match.

Kenny McLean came close to pulling one back with a long-range powerful drive which was tipped over by Foster - but the Canaries struggled to make the numerical advantage count.

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Fixtures
Sat 20 Apr 24 16:00 PM (SAST)
Sheffield United
Sheffield United
Burnley
Burnley
Bramall Lane
Sat 20 Apr 24 16:00 PM (SAST)
Luton Town
Luton Town
Brentford
Brentford
Kenilworth Road
Sat 20 Apr 24 20:30 PM (SAST)
Wolves
Wolves
Arsenal
Arsenal
Molineux Stadium
Results
Mon 15 Apr 24
Chelsea
Chelsea 6
Everton
Everton 0
Sun 14 Apr 24
Arsenal
Arsenal 0
Aston Villa
Aston Villa 2
Sun 14 Apr 24
West Ham
West Ham 0
Fulham
Fulham 2
Logs
Team
P
W
PTS
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1. Manchester City
32
22
73
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2. Arsenal
32
22
71
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3. Liverpool
32
21
71
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4. Aston Villa
33
19
63