Watford climbed off the bottom of the Premier League at Norwich’s expense with a 2-0 victory at Carrow Road, despite finishing the game with 10 men.
The Hornets, winless before kick-off, made a dream start as Gerard Deulofeu slotted the ball past Canaries goalkeeper Tim Krul inside two minutes.
Chances at both ends followed before first-half substitute Andre Gray doubled his side’s lead seven minutes into the second half with a well-executed 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 for the hosts.
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 a goal back with a long-range powerful drive which was tipped over by Foster – but the Canaries struggled to make the numerical advantage count.
