Norwich hit the lowest of lows as they lost to fellow strugglers Watford on Friday, meaning the Canaries now sit rock bottom in the Premier League table.
Before the game Watford hadn’t won all season and the pressure was mounting on new manager Quique Sanchez Flores but they got off to the best possible start when Gerard Deulofeu fired his team ahead after just 77 seconds.
Emi Buendia tried to be to clever and kept the ball too long. Deulofeu tackled him and ran almost the whole half until he was just inside Norwich’s eighteen yard area, where he the thumped a shot past Tim Krul.
The rest of the half was an exciting end to end affair. The Canaries would attack, mainly through Onel Hernandez, and then they would get tackled and Watford would break.
At the end of the half it was 1-0 but that soon became 2-0 in under five minutes after the restart. Alex Tettey dived in and Deulofeu crossed to Andre Gray who back heeled into the net.
The Canaries couldn’t muster up a reply and it ended 2-0. Boos rung around Carrow Road at full time and the players couldn’t even be bothered to applaud the fans that were still there.
Here is how we rated the Norwich players from this latest disappointing result:
Tim Krul - 6
The Hornets had two shots on target and they scored twice so Krul didn’t have a lot to do. For their two goals, the Dutchman was helpless so another solid performance from him.
Max Aarons - 6
Another average performance from the young right back and again, he was much too attacking, leaving holes in the defence. When he was on the attack though he did well, linking up with his teammates.
Ben Godfrey - 5
Another average performer last night, Godfrey looked better going forward when Norwich were looking for a goal than he did defensively.
Alex Tettey - 7
The natural defensive midfielder playing at centre back was brilliant in the first half. He was winning everything in the air and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. In the second half he became a bit clumsy, diving in at Deulofeu who just skipped past him to set up Gray’s goal.
Jamal Lewis - 5
Normally a flying full back, Lewis seemed afraid to venture forward and left Hernandez with no support. After a brilliant start to the season, his performances are really starting to decline.
Tom Trybull - 6
The German started many of City’s attacks and when the Hornets did go on the occasional flurry forward, he was quick to stamp it out.
Kenny McLean - 7
The Scot has been playing some nice football recently and yesterday was no different. He always found the pass and wasn’t afraid to get the shot off as he forced Ben Foster into a brilliant save late on.
Emi Buendia - 4
Only De Bruyne has more assists than Buendia this season but he has come in for a lot of criticism from the Carrow Road faithful recently. His corners hardly ever beat the first man, he didn’t seem to know where he was meant to be playing and when on the ball, he was lacklustre.
He was also at fault for Watford’s first after just 77 seconds. The playmaker was caught wanting too much time and he was tackled by Deulofeu before scoring.
Marco Steipermann - 6
He has struggled at times this season but Friday night he didn’t. The attacking midfielder looked quick but lacked the final ball at times.
Onel Hernandez - 7
Quick, direct, strong. Words that come to mind when thinking about his performance. Everything was going through the wide man and Watford struggled with him all evening, often needing two defenders to tussle the ball off him.
Teemu Pukki - 4
The out of form striker didn’t get much service but when he did get the chance to get the shot off he was hesitant and if he did get the shot off, Foster had no problem dealing with it.
With Josip Drmic nipping at his heels, he’ll have to come back on form after the international break.