Watford‘s relegation showdown with Norwich was stopped for well over 10 minutes on Friday night after a floodlight failure at Vicarage Road.
The Hornets were trailing 1-0 to Josh Sargent’s audacious flicked goal in the second half when a portion of the floodlights went out in the second half.
Even though the majority of the pitch was still lit up by the floodlights, some of which were still working, referee Mike Dean stopped the match between the two rivals looking to avoid the drop from the Premier League.
Watford’s game with Norwich was paused after some of the floodlights at Vicarage Road failed
Floodlights in the corner of Watford’s Vicarage Road stadium began to fail in the second half
Sky Sports commentator Jamie Carragher criticised the move to halt the game.
He argued that many stadiums in Europe are not as well lit as in England and matches continue regardless.
‘It’s absolutely fine. Who decides that they can’t carry on in this light? They can play, just get on with it,’ Carragher said.
Gary Neville concurred, urging referee Dean to resume play.
‘I completely agree with Jamie and his thoughts,’ he said.
The match was paused for more than 10 minutes while referee Mike Dean waited for advice
Moments after the game was resumed Josh Sargent scored again to double Norwich’s lead
‘The longer this game doesn’t continue, they’re creating a bigger problem. We’re at pitch level and there’s no real issue at all.
‘Someone at the Premier League needs to get the message to Mike Dean that this game can continue now as this is an absolute nonsense.
‘There have been England games where there has been far less light.’
An embarrassing night for Watford got even worse when Emmanuel Dennis was sent off
Neville got his wish as Dean eventually restarted the game after being ordered by the referee to consult with Norwich manager Dean Smith and Watford boss Claudio Ranieri and their respective captain.
Moments later, Sargent struck for the second time to bring more pain to Watford on an embarrassing evening on and off the pitch.
Things got even worse for the Hornets when Emmanuel Dennis was sent off and then their misery was compounded when a Juraj Kucka own goal made it 3-0 to Norwich.
