Norwich City 3-2 Watford: Canaries hit back for stunning comeback win
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Norwich City and Watford at Carrow Road on Saturday; Ben Chrisene, Anthony Musaba and Paris Maghoma net in Canaries comeback.
Saturday 31 October 2026 15:59, UK
Norwich launched a storming second half comeback to beat Watford 3-2 and make it back-to-back wins in the Sky Bet Championship.
Dutch striker Myron Boadu opened his account for the visitors with two goals as Watford took a 2-0 lead into the interval against a misfiring home side.
However, the Canaries looked a different side after the interval and scored three times in 17 minutes to turn the game on its head, with Ben Chrisene, Anthony Musaba and Paris Maghoma getting the goals that made it another unhappy afternoon for under-pressure Hornets manager Alessio Dionisi.
Norwich made a bright start, with Federico Ravaglia making a good reflex stop to keep out Jacob Wright's deflected flick inside the first three minutes and Sam Field then curling a shot narrowly wide.
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The visitors took the lead from their first genuine attack of the game in the 10th minute.
A quick break left the Canaries stretched at the back and Iker Bravo played a perfectly weighted ball into the path of strike partner Boadu, who skilfully guided the ball past onrushing goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw into the far corner.
The home side continued to have the bulk of possession, with Maghoma firing just wide after skipping past a couple of defenders - but the Hornets soaked up the pressure and doubled their advantage in the 27th minute.
This time Boadu picked up a speculative pass from deep from Mattie Pollock and turned Jose Cordoba before producing another neat side-footed finish past an exposed Grimshaw.
Norwich wasted little time in getting themselves back in it after the break, with Chrisene pulling one back in the 54th minute.
Ravaglia made a superb stop to keep out Cordoba's header from a Wright corner but the ball fell kindly for the City left-back to volley home from 10 yards.
The rejuvenated Canaries were now firmly on the front foot and levelled in the 62nd minute with a breakaway goal of their own.
Musaba used his pace to get on the end of a quick ball forward and then raced past Kevin Keben before cutting inside and blasting the ball home.
Norwich then made it three goals in a little more than a quarter of an hour to turn the game completely on its head.
With 71 minutes on the clock Field picked out Mathias Kvistgaarden in space on the right and the Danish striker picked out an unmarked Maghoma to drill the ball into the net in emphatic fashion for his second goal in successive games.
Watford rarely looked like mounting of a comeback of their own after the triple setback as the hosts comfortably saw out the game.
The managers
Norwich's Philippe Clement:
"I was delighted to see the players show the passion and desire necessary to take the points.
"Football is all about how you react to setbacks. There are two ways you can react when things are not going your way, when you are losing and you are booed at half-time. You can show your disappointment and get beaten or you can reset and use it as a cue to fight back.
"You can show belief, show to the fans that you are strong and united as a group. I am pleased that the players made the right choice.
"I thought we were the dominant team in the first half too, but we didn't take our chances and defended really badly on two occasions.
"It was a very pleasing win and it was important to build on last week's result at Charlton (a 3-1 victory). We now need to build on it again on Tuesday (at Derby).
This could be a very important afternoon in creating belief in each for the challenges ahead."
Watford's Alessio Dionisi:
"I am furious. It is difficult to explain the difference between the first and second half. Football is crazy, I know that, but to lose a game like that - it's impossible.
"We needed courage, determination, game management and after their first goal we didn't have that. It is impossible to win this league if you play like that.
"I had 11 players who played well with and without the ball in the first half - but then it all changed in the space of five minutes.
"This cannot happen and it is something we will be speaking about tomorrow.
"There were nearly 1,300 Watford fans here today - and I would like to be saying 'thank you' for their support rather than saying sorry again."
