Aston Villa 2-0 Norwich City: Canaries relegated from Premier League

Norwich were relegated from the Premier League with defeat against Aston Villa at Villa Park.

The tame loss, coupled with Burnley's dramatic comeback win at Watford, left the Canaries bottom of the table and 13 points from safety with four games to play.

Their fans continued to support as a relegation that has looked on the cards for some time was confirmed.

Ollie Watkins put Villa ahead in the first half, capitalising on a slip from Brandon Williams before lashing high into the net.

Williams' error summed up Norwich's season, as did their lack of potency in front of goal. They created limited openings, while Villa hit the woodwork in each half.

Danny Ings added a late goal in stoppage time to add to Norwich's misery.

Manager Dean Smith said "plans are already in place" for their bid to return to the top flight.

"We started planning three months ago about where we are going pre-season, what we are doing, whether we were up or down," he said.

"The reason we have been relegated is not today's performance. There have been performances throughout the season that have not been up to standard, but today we played well."

The low-key win for Villa ended a five-match winless run, lifted them to 13th in the table and took them to the 40-point mark.

Norwich head back to the Championship - again

This is the third successive time Norwich have been immediately relegated following promotion to the Premier League.

The afternoon was particularly painful for Smith given that he left Villa earlier this season.

In truth, Norwich's slide back to the second tier has looked likely throughout a season when they have rarely reached the standard required of a top-flight team.

Again, they were spirited and had good spells in possession, but their lack of threat in front of goal was once again laid bare, a diving stop to deny Milot Rashica from distance the only serious save Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez had to make.

Norwich have the fewest shots (336), fewest shots on target (100) and lowest shot conversion rate (7%) of all Premier League sides this season.

There were issues at the back too with Villa's opener coming from a long, hopeful ball that was not cleared, even before Williams' slip. The full-back was also outmuscled by Watkins, whose finish was aided by a slight deflection.

At full-time the Norwich fans applauded their side's effort and there was no outpouring of emotion.

The club's joint majority shareholder Delia Smith watched from the stands and some may again question the hierarchy's resistance to spending big following promotion.

But their prudency, and manager Smith's previous promotion with Villa, should leave Norwich well placed to bounce back once again.

For Villa this was a much-needed boost. It all but ends any fears of an unlikely slip towards relegation themselves, their winless run having seen them drop from ninth to 15th.

Manager Steven Gerrard handed a full debut to 18-year-old England Under-19 midfielder Tim Iroegbunam, who was solid in a holding role.

Player of the match

McGinnJohn McGinn

Aston Villa

Squad number7Player nameMcGinn

Squad number11Player nameWatkins

Squad number20Player nameIngs

Squad number23Player namePhilippe Coutinho

Squad number10Player nameBuendía

Squad number47Player nameIroegbunam

Squad number41Player nameJ Ramsey

Squad number2Player nameCash

Squad number1Player nameMartínez

Squad number27Player nameDigne

Squad number5Player nameMings

Squad number6Player nameDouglas Luiz

Squad number16Player nameChambers

Squad number31Player nameBailey

Norwich City

Squad number5Player nameHanley

Squad number8Player nameGilmour

Squad number22Player namePukki

Squad number1Player nameKrul

Squad number2Player nameAarons

Squad number21Player nameWilliams

Squad number10Player nameDowell

Squad number3Player nameByram

Squad number17Player nameRashica

Squad number16Player nameNormann

Squad number20Player nameLees-Melou

Squad number46Player nameRowe

Squad number24Player nameSargent

Squad number7Player nameRupp

Line-ups

Aston Villa

Formation 4-1-4-1

1Martínez

2Cash16Chambers5Mings27Digne

47Iroegbunam

31Bailey7McGinn41J Ramsey23Coutinho

11Watkins

Substitutes

Norwich

Formation 4-2-3-1

1Krul

2Aarons5Hanley3Byram21Williams

8Gilmour16Normann

10Dowell20Lees-Melou17Rashica

22Pukki

Substitutes

Live Text

Match ends, Aston Villa 2, Norwich City 0.

Second Half ends, Aston Villa 2, Norwich City 0.

Goal! Aston Villa 2, Norwich City 0. Danny Ings (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Emiliano Buendía.

Attempt saved. Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Emiliano Buendía.

Attempt missed. Emiliano Buendía (Aston Villa) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.

Foul by Mathias Normann (Norwich City).

John McGinn (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Foul by Lukas Rupp (Norwich City).

Matthew Cash (Aston Villa) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Max Aarons (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Emiliano Buendía (Aston Villa).

Foul by Teemu Pukki (Norwich City).

Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Substitution, Norwich City. Lukas Rupp replaces Joshua Sargent because of an injury.

Brandon Williams (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).

Attempt missed. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Danny Ings.

Attempt blocked. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Lucas Digne.

Substitution, Norwich City. Jonathan Rowe replaces Milot Rashica.

Offside, Aston Villa. Emiliano Buendía tries a through ball, but Danny Ings is caught offside.

Source Link