Norwich City's grip on Premier League survival is slipping after they were beaten 3-1 by relegation rivals Brentford at Carrow Road.

An Ivan Toney hat-trick was enough to ensure the Canaries fell 10 points behind the Bees with 11 matches to play. Teemu Pukki's late consolation did little to affect the feeling of City's frustrated supporters, who booed their team off the pitch.

As Carrow Road drained, so too has the hope of supporters.

This time, it was supposed to be different. Supporters were told the squad was good enough to remain in the division. That was the reason for dispensing with Daniel Farke in November.

The challenge now is akin to scaling Mount Everest. Norwich do not score enough nor can they stop shipping goals. Against a fellow newly-promoted side, they failed to deliver a performance of the standard that supporters suspect.

Time is running out. It will have to be something seismic to prevent a return from the Championship from here.

Norwich City

(4-3-3)

SUBS:

28 Gunn (GK)
2 Aarons (on for Williams, 81)
6 Zimmermann
10 Dowell
11 Placheta
19 Sorensen
20 Lees-Melou (on for Normann, 81)
30 Giannoulis
46 Rowe (on for Gilmour, 74)

Head coach: Dean Smith

- Bookings: Gibson (foul on Jansson, 51)

Brentford

(4-3-3)

SUBS:

49 Lossl (GK)
8 Jensen
11 Wissa (on for Canos, 82)
14 Ghoddos
15 Onyeka (on for Norgaard, 59)
22 Zanka
26 Baptiste
29 Sorensen
30 Roerslev (on for Ajer, 75)

Head coach: Thomas Frank

- Bookings: Ajer (foul on Williams, 24), Eriksen (foul on Williams, 40), Jansson (off the ball incident, 80), Roerslev (foul on Rowe, 89), Mbeumo (off the ball incident, 90+1)

- Added on time: 2 mins/ 8 mins

- Venue: Carrow Road

- Referee: Anthony Taylor

- VAR: John Brooks

KEY MOMENTS

2 - Norwich squander a huge opportunity to open the scoring after Gilmour intercepts Pinnock's inside ball. He plays Rashica through on goal but his stabbed shot is saved by Raya. The Scot's rebound is off target

17 - McLean's flick on provides Pukki with a sighter of goal. He attempts to catch Raya out at his near post but the Spaniard gets down well to push it behind for a corner

18 - Another chances goes begging for City as they keep the attack alive from the corner. Rashica's drilled cross found Sargent, but he was unable to keep his shot under the bar

31 - Krul pulls off a tremendous save to deny Canos after the ball dropped to the former Norwich winger after a long throw

32 - GOAL BRENTFORD (TONEY) - From the resulting corner, Brentford take the lead. Ajer's flick on finds the unmarked Toney at the back post, who is to prod the ball into the net. 0-1

HALF TIME – NORWICH CITY 1-0 BRENTFORD

48 - Norwich appeal for a penalty after Williams tumbles under Mbeumo's pressure inside the box. Replays suggest the Manchester United loanee was looking for it

51 - Jansson is caught by Gibson's high boot from a Brentford corner. After consulting the VAR screen, referee Anthony Taylor awards a penalty

52 - GOAL BRENTFORD (TONEY PEN) - The striker sends Krul the wrong way to double the Bees' advantage at Carrow Road. 0-2

56 - Brentford are awarded another penalty when Gibson brings down Toney inside the area.

58 - GOAL BRENTFORD (TONEY PEN) - Same side. Same result. Toney seals the three points for Thomas Frank's men. 0-3

61 - Pukki's snapshot is held by Raya after Pinnock's interception prevent Sargent from going through

65 - Byram makes contact with Gilmour's corner, but Raya pushes his headed effort over the bar

67 - Rashica has the ball in the net after latching onto Pukki's blocked shot. VAR overrules the decision to disallow the goal after the Finn was offside from McLean's cross earlier in the move

76 - Brentford have a goal disallowed. Pinnock's cross is met by Mbeumo. Krul saved his initial header but the attacker tucked in the rebound. VAR then ruled that Pinnock was in an offside position

90+2 - GOAL NORWICH (PUKKI) - Tenacious work from Rowe keeps an attack alive. His cross is perfect for Pukki to smash into the net. 1-3

FULL TIME – NORWICH CITY 1-3 BRENTFORD

SNAP RATINGS:

Krul 4; Byram 4, Hanley 4, Gibson 3, Williams 4; Normann 4, McLean 4, Gilmour 3; Sargent 3, Rashica 4; Pukki 4. SUBS: Rowe 5, Aarons N/A, Lees-Melou N/A

MATCH STATS:

(Norwich City - Brentford)

Possession: 59% -41%

Shots: 15 -10

Shots on Target: 7 - 6

XG: 0.62 - 2.36

Corners: 5 - 5

Fouls: 13 - 18