Josh Sargent’s stoppage-time goal earned Norwich a 1-0 win at Carrow Road which kept alive their outside hopes of reaching the Championship play-offs – and put a big dent in West Brom’s promotion dream.
Sargent produced a composed finish to net his 13th goal of the season to settle a tight game of few clear-cut chances.
There was still time for goalkeeper Angus Gunn to make a great close-range save to keep out Kyle Bartley's header, with substitute Ruairi McConville clearing the second effort off the line.
Sixth-placed West Brom, who are now only five points ahead of the Canaries, started well but were largely kept at arm's length by a determined home side, who had gone into the game without a win in their previous four games.
They could have few complaints about the outcome while Norwich showed they could be more than a match for the best sides in the division on their day.
The Baggies had two good chances to take the lead in the space of less than a minute early on, with Gunn twice being called into action.
The Scotland international got just enough on a low drive from Karlan Grant and then made a terrific stop at his near post to keep out a goalbound header from Torbjorn Heggem.
Norwich posed the occasional threat and carved out probably the clearest chance of the opening period on 16 minutes.
Sargent was put through by Borja Sainz and it took an excellent stop from Joe Wildsmith to deny him, with Ante Crnac firing the loose ball just wide.
The visitors continued to have marginally the better of it, however, and Gunn made another good stop to keep out a low curler from Grant towards the end of the half.
Sainz fired a shot straight at Wildsmith from a good position as the Canaries started the second half strongly but it didn't last as a competitive game became increasingly scrappy.
The hosts had another chance in the 84th minute when Sargent was brought down on the edge of the area and substitute Marcelino Nunez curled the resulting free-kick just wide.
But Norwich kept pushing forward and got their reward in the second minute of added time.
When the visitors lost possession, Sargent was given a run at goal down the right and held off the chasing Bartley before steering the ball past Wildsmith for a dramatic winner.
The managers
Norwich's Johannes Hoff Thorup:
"Even before the match the lads were confident we were still in with a chance. We needed to win this one and now we have we can look forward to a final push. Obviously we need to go on a run and win more games than we have been doing recently but this is a good start.
"We have been on the wrong end of the result in quite a few 50/50 games this season so it was good to be on the right side this time - we all needed this result and I am delighted for the lads.
"We got the goal in the end - and it was good to get a clean sheet too.
"It's no secret we have been a bit too open recently, and have conceded too many goals, so we changed things a bit to give the lads at the back a bit more protection.
"It worked well, although it does make other aspects of the game a bit more difficult. We certainly weren't on the front foot as much as we normally are."
West Brom's Tony Mowbray:
"I wouldn't say we deserved to win - but I don't think we deserved to lose it either. To be honest I would have been a bit disappointed with 0-0.
"Norwich were a bit more pragmatic than they normally are but I thought we generally dominated possession and controlled the game - but you have to score a goal. We had our chances and didn't take them.
"It was a bit cruel to us in the end - a sloppy ball in midfield, a pass through and a good finish.
"But if you don't take your chances, don't score a goal, that sort of thing can always happen.
"Having said that, if our performance levels stay like they were today between now and the end of the season then we will get results and achieve what we want to achieve."
