Monday 18 August 2014 10:27, UK
Norwich manager Neil Adams was a proud man after watching his side cruise to their first victory since he took over towards the end of last season.
The Canaries had failed to win in six games under Adams' stewardship before today, with five being in the Premier League, but that all changed today as City beat 10-man Watford 3-0 at Carrow Road to get their Sky Bet Championship campaign up and running.
"I was delighted with the way the players applied themselves," said Adams. "It's never easy when your opponents go down to 10 men, because they can organise themselves and get men behind the ball, but we were patient, kept the ball really well and eventually got the goals we deserved.
"Obviously the win means everything, but it's not about me, it's about the team getting the three points. There have been plenty of good performances since I took over, against some top, top, teams, but there was obviously pressure on us to get the win. There will always be pressure on us because of the size of club we are."
Adams was also pleased with the quality of the goals scored by Bradley Johnson, Lewis Grabban and Alex Tettey.
"They were all goals of exceptional quality, from the very top drawer," he said. "Only a quality player could score a one like Bradley's, and the same applies to Grabban - it's the sort of goal you could imagine Messi or Ronaldo scoring. Alex's goal was rather overshadowed - but that was a good goal too."
Watford were up against it from the moment they were reduced to 10 men in the second minute after Joel Ekstrand caught Nathan Redmond with a stray elbow as the pair went for a high clearance.
The Hornets held out until the 32nd minute but there was no way back for them once Johnson had beaten Heurelho Gomes with a well placed curler from just outside the box.
Norwich were always in control after that and wrapped the points up with two goals in as many minutes around the hour mark, both of them impressive long range efforts.
Summer signing Grabban opened his account for his new club with a delicate chip that left Gomes completely wrong-footed before Tettey blasted home a low drive to end any arguments about the result.
Adams agreed that the sending off was a key moment, adding: "As we found out (at Wolves) last week red cards can change games. I didn't get a close view, but I spoke to Nathan and he just told me he didn't know what had hit him. He certainly wasn't trying to get the lad into trouble."
Watford manager Giuseppe Sannino felt it could have been a different story had referee Paul Tierney kept his card in his pocket.
"For me it was a big decision, a massive call from the referee when it was not clear. Norwich have a good squad and they played well, moved the ball well and deserved to win.
"But if it had been 11 versus 11 I think it would have been a different result. We certainly wouldn't have conceded three goals."
Sannino refused to point the finger of blame at Gomes, who saw two well placed efforts sail over his head and into the back of the net.
"I don't think you can blame the goalkeeper. The main problem was that we allowed Norwich to have easy shots and they scored three times."
