Norwich City move to Championship play-off places after beating Watford 4-2

The win extends their unbeaten home run to eight matches

Author: Sian RochePublished 14th Feb 2024

Norwich City are in the play-off places, after beating Watford in a six goal thriller at Carrow Road.

The 4-2 win sees the Canaries move to sixth in the table, with their unbeaten home run extended to eight matches.

After going 2-0 up through Ashley Barnes and Josh Sargent, late second half goals were needed from Gabriel Sara and Christian Fassnacht to seal the points.

Watford had pulled level midway through the second half thanks to Mileta Rajovic and Yaser Asprilla but a late surge saw Norwich to victory.

Head coach David Wagner had made two changes to his team from the starting 11 against QPR on Saturday.

Jacob Sørensen and Onel Hernández came in to replace Grant Hanley and Fassnacht while Jonathan Rowe missed out through injury.

"Top class"

Wagner says the win was 'top class': "For me, as a manager, it was a super good result. A deserved result, to be fair. Especially in the first half, we played some wonderful football.

"Defensively, we were very aggressive. Offensively, we created moments and scored goals. Then with more or less their first chance, Watford scored. They've shown they have top quality, and this affected us a little bit.

"Second half, we didn't start well. Conceded another, which was a super strike. That shows the kind of quality we face, but how the players reacted to get the win is just top class. A very good match, the players have put on a very good shift, and big credit for what they have done.

"Again, at home. Like with Southampton, West Brom, Coventry, and now Watford. The performances, now they've got the reward with the results, it's just outstanding."

"We deserved that win"

Midfielder Gabriel Sara, who made the scoresheet for the match says the teams deserved the win: "We had a really good first half, and the second half wasn't that good but I'm happy today with the victory, the three points, and the goal.

"We had to fix what went wrong in the second half, and keep going. We're in the play-offs now and we have to stay there...

"This game can show how unified this team is, we were defending together and really pushing each other. The victory was for the team, we all work really hard together. We deserved that win. I think it's going to motivate us for the next game."

The Canaries are back at home on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Cardiff City.

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