Norwich City face the prospect of a swift return to the Championship after they marked Project Restart with a 3-0 defeat to Southampton at Carrow Road.

Saints forward Danny Ings opened the scoring in the 50th-minute after a goalless first-half and teed up Stuart Armstrong to add a second four minutes later.

Former Norwich man Nathan Redmond then rounded up the rout in the 79th-minute to compound Daniel Farke’s woes and leave The Canaries firmly rooted to the foot of the Premier League.

The defeat leaves Norwich with 21 points, six points from safety having played a game more than their nearest rivals.

Indeed, no team with 21 points or fewer after 30 games have stayed up in Premier League history.

Southampton’s win was the first in a decade at Carrow Road and puts daylight between Ralph Hasenhuettl’s charges and the relegation places as they bounded up to 13th on the log with 37 points – ten clear of the drop.

Just like on Wednesday, the players mirrored the actions of Manchester City, Arsenal, Sheffield United and Aston Villa in observing a minute’s silence for victims of the coronavirus pandemic and took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

A tepid first half devoid of chances exploded in the second half with Ings particularly impressive.

The forward hit the woodwork when he should have done better but atoned for the miss with a classy finish to put the Saints ahead.

He then turned provider for Armstrong to double the lead before Redmond put the final nail in Norwich’s coffin with a third.

The second-half goal glut was the first time Southampton have scored three second-half goals in a Premier League game since February 2014 against Fulham

Norwich have been poor at the back all season and going by the evidence on Wednesday, the coronavirus-induced break has not made things better.

Norwich manager Daniel Farke has now lost 19 of his first 30 Premier League games (W5 D6) with only Graham Taylor (21) and Mick McCarthy (26) losing more of their first 30 games in the competition.