Jonny Howson and Dieumerci Mbokani scored on each side of halftime to lift Norwich to a relatively easy -- if a bit testy -- 2-0 win over last-place Aston Villa on Monday at Carrow Road.
The Villans are now 11 points back of safety, while the Canaries boosted their survival chances by three more points and sit a trio of points ahead of the drop.
[ MORE: Watch full PL match replays ]
Norwich broke through in the 24th minute, as Lucky Mbokani flicked a cross back post and Howson was Jonny-on-the-spot to belt a left-footed shot past Guzan.
And Mbokani turned finisher in the waning moments to salt things away for the home side, and Norwich heaped more misery on Remi Garde’s Villans.
[ MORE: Latest Premier League standings ]1 - Aston Villa have kept one clean sheet in their last 18 Premier League games. Inevitable.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 28, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
[ MORE: Full lineups, stats, box score ]