Norwich City have been relegated from the Premier League despite recording a comfortable win over Watford at Carrow Road.
Norwich City had gone four consecutive games without a goal, leading to four straight defeats, leaving them on the brink of relegation and having to rely on Sunderland losing to Everton and themselves grabbing a win. The Canaries did get their win, beating a mediocre Watford side 4-2, but with Sunderland thumping Everton 3-0, Norwich are now heading to the Championship next season.
Troy Deeney opened the scoring for the Hornets in the 11th minute after Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy palmed away an Odion Ighalo attempt, with the rebound going to Deeney to slot into the net. Norwich fired back just four minutes later as Nathan Redmond combined with Steven Naismith. Redmond beat Heurelho Gomes easily at his near post, a telling sign in the context of the match.
A Craig Cathcart own goal and a double to Dieumerci Mbokani was enough for Norwich to take the spoils. Odion Ighalo also broke his goalscoring dry spell, getting the Hornets’ second in the 51st minute.
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Ighalo decline stopped
Prior to the match, Ighalo had gone 12 games without a goal, which was in stark contrast to his first half of the season. Ighalo finally broke his dry spell, scoring in the 51st minute to pull his team within a goal, however, it was not enough. Ighalo is not the only one struggling in the second half of the season – the whole side has. Watford can count themselves lucky that they had such a strong start to the season, otherwise they may have been threatened with relegation too.
Flores probably on his way out
Flores has been under pressure for much of the second half of the season. Losing the FA Cup semi-final and failing to inspire his players to continue on their march up the table has put him in the hot seat. It is most likely that he will either be moved on or he will move on himself. Who replaces him is another matter entirely.
Too little, too late for Norwich
Whether it was just Watford being that bad, or Norwich finally clicking, we will never know. The Canaries have struggled throughout the entire EPL season, winning just nine games all season. That is far from a good enough record in the Premier League and puts them straight back down into the Championship. Defeating Watford, a team on a steady decline itself, does not really count for much.
Canaries need a solid striker
Norwich are in need of go-to striker, a forward they can count on, something they have lacked all season. For Sunderland, Jermain Defoe has stepped up, helping them avoid relegation. Dieumerci Mbokani is the top goalscorer for Norwich with just seven goals, not a stat that you want to see from a club that is desperately seeking to get out of the relegation zone.
Manager merry-go-round
In what seems like a cruel twist on the season, Quique Sanchez Flores appears to be heading out the door after keeping Watford up in the Premier League, while Alex Neil is apparently safe from the chop, despite his team dropping down a league. Football is a funny game, sometimes, although we have come to expect this sort of thing from the Watford owners.
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