Watford vs Norwich: Josh Sargent scored twice — his first two Premier League goals — to help the Canaries to three invaluable points and a 3-0 final score at Vicarage Road on Friday.
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The USMNT forward wasn’t named to Gregg Berhalter’s 28-man squad for next week’s 2022 World Cup qualifiers, but the 21-year-old responded with a brace in the span of 23 minutes to begin the second half.
The victory sends Norwich (16 points) above Watford (14 points) in the Premier League table. That means that Norwich will finish a matchday outside the relegation zone for the first time all season.
Watford vs Norwich final score, stats, results
Final score: Watford 0, Norwich 3
Goal scorers: Watford (None), Norwich (Sargent 51′, 74′, Kucka 90’+1 – OG)
Shots: Watford 15, Norwich 7
Shots on target: Watford 4, Norwich 2
Possession: Watford 68%, Norwich 32%
3 things we learned – Watford vs Norwich
1. Take a bow, Josh Sargent: From missing this chance earlier in the season, to simply getting a foot on (and scoring) this most unlikely chance for Premier League goal no. 1 of the season, to scoring again just 23 minutes later, it’s been a wild first six months since Sargent left Werder Bremen and moved to England.
USA chants break out from the Norwich City supporters! #WATNOR pic.twitter.com/DlxgpkpZCP
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) January 21, 2022
2. Frustrations aplenty for Watford: Watford’s Premier League status is very quickly slowly slipping through their fingers with seven defeats in their last eight Premier League fixtures (0W-1D-7L), and it’s beginning to show in the actions and on the faces of the players. Joao Pedro and Joshua King were visibly arguing with one another on the field during the first half, and in the second half Emmanuel Dennis — the other of Watford’s three most important players with Ismaila Sarr out injured — was sent off for a dangerous challenge in the 78th minute.
3. No time to rest on laurels: The upcoming fixture list will not be kind to Norwich, with Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Brentford and Leeds all coming up in their next six games. Then again, when you spend the first 22 weeks in the relegation zone, what game is easy?
Man of the Match: Josh Sargent – Who else?
Josh Sargent scores with an incredible touch to make it 1-0
Quite a memorable (and fantastic) first Premier League goal for the (not-called-up) USMNT forward.
Josh Sargent heads home his second for 2-0 (goal video)
Milot Rashica served up a delightful ball that only Sargent could reach, and Sargent put it away like he’d been doing it all season.
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Juraj Kucka pokes ball into own net (goal video)
When it rains, it pours.
