Watford manager Xisco Munoz was delighted his first game in charge ended as a 1-0 victory over Championship leaders Norwich.
Ismail Sarr’s 39th-minute goal turned out to be just enough at Vicarage Road to end the Canaries’ five-match winning run and lift the Hornets up to fifth.
“I am very happy,” said the Spaniard, who left Dinamo Tbilisi to replace the sacked Vladimir Ivic. “This is our way, this is our style. The players played like a team, they gave everything.
“The last two days in training were very good so I congratulate the players. I am very happy because they worked very hard. It is a moment to enjoy.
“In these important games you have to fight from the first to the last minute and our fans will be very happy because they received these three points. For us it is perfect.
“The only problem today was the we didn’t have the fans with us. With the fans it would have been much better but I’m sure all of the fans were very happy with the guys, they fought like animals.”
Watford are two points off Swansea in second but Xisco was cautious not to promise too much too soon.
“We will take it step by step,” he said. “Now our focus is on the next game. When we have more time to work with the guys it will be better.”
Norwich bossed possession but did not create many clear chances, although the Canaries were convinced top scorer Teemu Pukki had been brought down in the box by substitute Adam Masina near the end.
Manager Daniel Farke was disappointed with a lack of cutting edge plus the defending for the goal, which saw left-back Jacob Sorensen allow Sarr to connect with Ken Sema’s pass for a tap-in but did not make a fuss of the non-penalty award.
“We have nothing to blame, the pitch or the referee,” he said. “We lacked intensity and sharpness, it was nothing else.
“It is difficult to create chances against a team that places so much emphasis on defending but we didn’t create enough out of our dominance.
“Each and every loss is frustrating and we are down and disappointed and of course after five wins to then return back home with a loss, of course it is.
“As an away team with 65 per cent possession it is not a game you would be expecting to lose but we did. Our problem was that we lacked intensity and sharpness.
“We were also lacking awareness in defending, it was a goal we should never have conceded. Watford had massive experience up front and if this team lurks for counter-attacks it is always difficult but we have to accept this result.”
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