If Diego Lugano defends like this for Uruguay against England at the World Cup next summer, Roy Hodgson’s men might progress from that so-called Group of Death after all.

Ring-rusty and making his first Premier League start, the uncertain South American looked hopelessly inferior as Leroy Fer sealed the points with two minutes left. And Albion defender Lugano had been no cleverer as he failed to stop Gary Hooper’s confident finish after just 13 minutes.

‘I thought Lugano did well,’ said Albion manager Steve Clarke, who knows he must defend his players in public even though they have suffered three defeats in quick succession. ‘It’s been a difficult week, it’s hard to take and feels sore.’

In sharp contrast, this rare away win gives Norwich manager Chris Hughton some welcome breathing space after another Uruguayan, Luis Suarez, caused such destruction to City’s defence a few days ago.

Yet some truly bird-brained defending from those flapping Canaries deserved to be punished again. This fragility will have to be addressed if Hughton is to keep his job through 2014.

‘The pressure is always there, and as soon as the good feeling from this win goes, it’s about getting the next result,’ Hughton admitted with a slightly haunted air.

Just one win since September will make it a nervous Christmas for Clarke, too. On Saturday, one piece of simplicity was enough to first pierce Albion’s shaky rearguard. Fer threaded through the scoring pass which left Lugano and Gareth McAuley looking strangely lost. Keeper Boaz Myhill had no chance once the ball left Hooper’s boot.

Albion will wonder how Stephane Sessegnon missed three glaring opportunities as Norwich’s defending took on a comic sense of panic.

He should have netted from a Chris Brunt corner and he should have scored an even better chance in front of goal after the break.

‘Six inches the wrong side of the post,’ observed a frustrated Clarke. ‘And another from Stephane was going in until it hit Martin Olsson on the arm, but I’m not going to sit here crying about penalties.’

Nathan Redmond, the best player on the pitch, might also have scored on three occasions, although he did at least set Fer on his way for the late clincher. Chris Hughton was delighted with the result after the defat they suffered at the hands of Liverpool.

‘It was the ideal response,’ he said. ‘We have done that a couple of times this season and it has to be down to the players as after a Wednesday game you don’t have too much time to prepare.

‘Most of it is video work and going through some set-plays but physically you do not have a lot of time to work on anything. So it has to be a response from the players and we got that.

‘We put ourselves under a lot of pressure, particularly in that final half an hour, but it is a clean sheet.

‘Going into that last period of the game they were either going to come back and get a draw or a win or we were going to break and get the second and that’s what happened.’

But Hughton does not believe the result takes the pressure off him.

He said: ‘The pressure is always there, it is part and parcel of the game. As soon as the good feel of this win goes it’s about the pressure of getting the next result. It is part and parcel of the game.’

The defeat drops West Brom to within two points of the relegation zone and Baggies boss Clarke was left bemoaning his side’s inability to convert a series of second-half chances.

He said: ‘We created a lot of chances but we did not get the goal. We made it difficult for ourselves conceding the goal which came from a throw-in and was a soft goal.

‘It gave Norwich something to hang on to. We created enough chances but could not get the goal that would change the game in our favour.’

—Daily Mail