Hammers nail Norwich as Liverpool hit bump in points record bid
Norwich were relegated from the Premier League after a resounding 4-0 defeat to West Ham at Carrow Road.
Michail Antonio’s four goals sealed the Canaries’ fate, as Daniel Farke’s side became the first team to lose their topflight status this season.
Norwich were already six points adrift at the foot of the table before the coronavirus pandemic, and their form since the restart took a turn for the worse.
Six successive league defeats have now followed, to extend the losing run to seven in total, in which time last season’s Championship winners have only managed to score once.
Antonio’s two goals in the first half signalled the end to Norwich’s slim hopes of survival, but West Ham’s emphatic victory was sealed when he struck twice more in the second period to become the first Hammers player to net four in a Premier League game.
Norwich manager Farke said: “We are unbelievably disappointed. We wanted to beat the odds again but when the dust settles the outcome is more or less what was expected.
“If you have luck and no injuries then you have a chance. When we are 100 per cent we are competitive but when it’s 96 or 97 per cent then it sometimes looks like men against boys. That’s what I expected.”
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s bid to set a new Premier League points record took a hit following a 1-1 draw against Burnley.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are chasing the record total of 100 points set by Manchester City in 2018, but that dream seems to be slipping away after being held at Anfield for the first time this season.
They have 93 points and need to win their remaining three matches against Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle United to break City’s record. They can tie the 100-point mark if they win two and draw one.
It was looking good for Liverpool when they took the lead through Andrew Robertson who met Fabinho’s lofted pass with a powerful header in the 34th minute.
But they wasted chances to increase their lead, with Roberto Firmino hitting the post before Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah fired wide. They were made to pay for those misses in the 69th minute.
Liverpool were rocked by a long free-kick into their area as James Tarkowski’s header found Jay Rodriguez, who hit a fine low strike past Alisson Becker.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson almost won it for Burnley when he hit the bar in the final minutes.
It was the first time Liverpool had failed to win a home league game since January 2019.
Also, Troy Deeney scored two penalties as Watford improved their survival prospects with a 2-1 win against Newcastle at Vicarage Road.
Newcastle snatched the lead in the 23rd minute when Matt Ritchie’s corner was flicked on by Federico Fernandez and Dwight Gayle bundled home at the far post for his third goal of the season.
But Deeney pulled Watford level seven minutes after the restart. Kiko Femenia was clipped inside the area by Ritchie and Deeney smashed the penalty past Martin Dubravka.
In the 82nd minute, Javier Manquillo brought down Ismaila Sarr and Deeney stepped up again for his second penalty.