Norwich City‘s Josh Sargent, a US men’s international player, scored his first Premier League goal on Friday in extraordinary fashion, before scoring a second to sink a struggling Watford side.
The 21-year-old Sargent had made a move to Norwich in the summer, but had not found the back of the net up until now.
However, Sargent finally broke his dry spell on Friday, converting spectacularly through an improvised volley akin to a scorpion kick to hand Norwich a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute.
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A poor Watford side could not find any answer to Norwich’s goal and Sargent pounced on another opportunity and headed the ball past Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann in the 74th minute.
Watford’s misfortunes only got worse after Sargent’s brace, with striker Emmanuel Dennis being sent off in the 78th minute. Dennis, who was already on a yellow, lunged at Norwich’s Max Aarons in an easy avoidable challenge, and ended up being sent off.
To add insult to injury, Watford conceded an own goal in stoppage time when Juraj Kucka diverted a ball from Adam Idah into his own net.
The three points were crucial for Norwich, who leapfrogged Watford to exit the relegation zone. Norwich now sit 17th on the Premier League table with 16 points from 22 games, while Watford are 18th with 14 points off 20 games.
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Understandably, mindsets of the two teams were very different after the game. Sargent described Norwich’s win as “huge confidence boost,” and a delighted Dean Smith said, “To get the win was the main thing.”
Watford manager Claudio Ranieri, meanwhile, promised a comeback, saying, “Psychologically I hope we react. When we are desperate we react well. Now is the right moment to react. We can’t carry on in this way, we have to change the mentality. I don’t go away, I am a fighter and I don’t give up.”