IT was a bad day at the office for City as their excellent early season form was ended by Coventry at the Ricoh Arena.
A goal down early in the first half through a long-range effort by Chris Birchall, City huffed and puffed but rarely created a clear goalscoring opportunity for themselves.
And while Coventry themselves were limited to a more direct approach, it paid dividends, with giant target man Kevin Kyle grabbing a goal on his debut in the second half.
More misery would soon follow as Stern John made the most of lapse defending to fire a third.
All City had to offer was a late effort by Paul McVeigh which brought a fine stop from Andy Marshall.
Otherwise, it was an afternoon to forget for Norwich and there 2,500 travelling fans.
The question now is how they respond when they travel to Southend on Tuesday night.
City boss Nigel Worthington had the luxury of being able to name an unchanged line-up for the visit to the Ricoh Arena.
Despite suffering a sprained wrist playing for Wales against Brazil in midweek, top scorer Robert Earnshaw was able to continue through the middle.
So it was a case of "as you were" for the Canaries, still hunting their first away goal of the season.
For the home side manager Micky Adams was able to call on the services of Trinidad and Tobago internationals Chris Birchall and Stern John after the national side cancelled proposed friendly matches with Mexico and Colombia.
John was partnered in attack by new signing Kevin Kyle, with Leon McKenzie unable to play in the match due to the terms in his £1m switch from Carrow Road.
Coventry kicked off the match attacking the end filled with more than 2,000 travelling City fans.
And there was immediate cause for concern inside the first 30 seconds when Carl Robinson appeared to get an arm in the face, leaving him needing attention on the pitch before being able to continue.
Moments later and Jason Shackell found himself in the book for a horribly high challenge on Stern John.
John looked set to break away down the left after latching onto Kyle's flick-on, and the young defender upended him, leaving the former Nottingham Forest man needing lengthy treatment.
It was proving to be a lively opening five minutes, with home captain Stephen Hughes earning himself a talking to for bringing down Croft in full flight.
But in the 12th minute Coventry soared into the lead.
City failed to deal effectively with a long punt into the box, only clearing it as far as Chris Birchall 25 yards from goal.
No-one came to close him down, and he sent in bending a fierce right-foot shot into Gallacher's right corner.
Norwich looked to hit back straight away, winning a corner away on the left. Huckerby's ball was only cleared to the feet of Etuhu in the six-yard box, but he seemed to miss his kick, allowing the Sky Blues to clear.
The Canaries were gradually feeling their way back into the game after a sluggish start.
And on 20 minutes Safri might have done better than fire a long-range shot wide of goal after finding a rare moment of space inside the Coventry half.
It was certainly proving to be a physical affair, on on 22 minutes Etuhu earned a yellow card for a high challenge.
That element of the match was summed up on 24 minutes when Shackell suffered a cut to the head after attacking a free kick played in by Croft.
A third City name was soon added to the notebook, with Robinson yellow carded for dangerous play just outside the centre circle.
Coventry's Robert Page swiftly followed him for a high arm against the Welsh midfielder, and it was becoming increasingly unlikely the game would end with 22 players still on the field.
On the half hour mark the home side had a loud shout for a penalty when Safri appeared to nick the heels of full-back Andy Whing in the box.
But referee Moss was having none of it, and even booked Whing for diving, bringing the number of cautions so far to five.
Norwich were finally beginning to get some passing moves going, and on 39 minutes Colin managed to get to the byline, only to see his low cross hacked clear before Earnshaw could pounce.
But it was fair to say the Canaries were lacking ideas in the final third, with the last ball letting them down on a number of occasions.
It had not been a classic so far by any means, with the number of bookings being the main talking point in what had ben a poor 45 minutes.
With three minutes of injury time signalled, there was just time for Croft to make it four yellows for City with a crude challenge away on the left.
Half time: Coventry City 1-0 Norwich City
Both sides returned for the second half unchanged, with the Canaries no doubt told to up the tempo and match their hosts in the physical side of things.
However, on 49 mnutes the first change of the afternoon was made, with Huckerby - presumably injured - replace by Paul McVeigh.
On 53 minutes City came desperately close to restoring parity.
Former Coventry man Safri found himself with the ball at his feet 25 yards out, and he unleashed a piledriver of a shot which deflected off Hughes and bounced onto the roof of the net with Marshall well beaten.
On 59 minutes a nice move by City saw Earnshaw receive the ball just outside the box.
Unfortunately, it was on his less favoured left-foot, with the striker opting to curl a shot with the outside of his stronger foot - one which finished well wide.
It was certainly Norwich doing all the pressing, with Coventry relying on the direct approach to the towering Kyle.
Tellingly though, City had yet to force Marshall into any sort of serious action.
And on 63 minutes they were punished for their wastefulness when Kyle grabbed a goal on his debut to double their advantage.
John swung in a deep ball from the left, and Kyle got above Shackell to head into the corner of Gallacher's net.
City were almost caught napping moments later when Shackell's heavy touch from a simple pass allowed John to intercept.
He turned the young defender inside out before fizzing a low shot wide of Gallacher's far post.
And Norwich's slackness at the back was exposed on 67 minutes when Coventry grabbed a third.
Again City failed to clear their lines properly, and John showed strength and character to dribble his way around the prone figures of Doherty and Shackell to score via a deflection.
There now looked to be no way back for City, who had been the architects of their own downfall.
On 72 minutes City almost found their way back into match. Croft's quick through from the right landed at McVeigh's feet in space in the box, and he spun and sent a half-volley inches wide of Marshall's far post.
On 79 minutes Norwich had a big shout for a penalty waved away after Henderson was felled by Elliott Ward in the box as he looked to scamper away.
But the shouts fell on deaf ears.
With the game now in the final five minutes, City's luck was summed up when McVeigh was denied by a double save from Marshall after being found by Drury.
Final score: Coventry 3-0 Norwich City
Coventry City: Marshall, Whing, Hall,Page, Ward, Hughes (c), Doyle, Kyle (Hutchison 69), Birchall, John (Osbourne 82), Thornton (Cameron 69). Subs: Adebola, Heath.
Norwich City: Gallacher, Drury (c), Shackell, Huckerby (McVeigh 49), Croft, Earnshaw, Safri, Etuhu (Henderson 66), Colin, Doherty, Robinson. Subs: Camp, Fleming, Hughes.
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