Manchester City 6-0 Watford FC
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City put on a spectacular show in the FA Cup final at Wembley, to blow Watford away on their way to making history.
FA Cup Manchester City vs Watford was an exhibition of world-class football from a very special team, the first to complete the domestic treble of Premier League, League Cup and FA Cup.
Javi Gracia’s Watford defended manfully in the first half, but they were simply overwhelmed by a City side in irresistible form as David Silva, Raheem Sterling – who bagged a hat-trick – Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne all got on the score sheet.
It was a Pep Guardiola master class.
Highlights of the game
In the run-up to the game, the Manchester City vs Watford news circulating around Wembley was that City top scorer Sergio Aguero was starting on the bench, with Gabriel Jesus given a start.
Guardiola said the young Brazilian deserved his start, and he almost had an opening after good work from Bernardo and David Silva. But Craig Cathcart denied Jesus by making a crucial interception.
The Sky Blues settled quickly into the game, dominating possession and probing at the Hornets defence from the off. But the underdogs had the best chance of the opening exchanges.
Gerard Deulofeu started up front for Watford alongside Troy Deeney. The former Barcelona man has been the Hornets’ most creative player this season, and when the Hornets broke at speed he squared the perfect ball for Roberto Pereyra. However, Ederson made a brave save to deny the Argentine wide man.
The Watford fans were soon on their feet again, and this time due to a penalty appeal as Abdoulaye Doucoure’s shot hit Vincent Kompany on the elbow. But his pleas were waved away by the referee, who booked the midfielder for the ferocity of his protest.
But then City were ahead after more great work from David Silva. As the ball looped into the Watford box, he won a header and then took a return from Raheem Sterling before hitting a brilliant low finish.
Watford really needed to get to half-time still in touch, but on 39 minutes their task was made doubly difficult when Bernardo Silva chipped forward a delightful ball which Jesus squeezed in from a tight angle. Sterling smashed the ball into the net before it completely crossed the line to make sure.
That was a little tough on Jesus. The young striker tried again to get his goal early in the second half, but Heurelho Gomes saved. Then he was flagged offside when he nodded one into the net from an Oleksandr Zinchenko cross.
Watford were still in the game at 2-0. Deulofeu sprung the City offside trap but pulled his shot wide as his angle narrowed. But at 3-0 it was game over.
Kevin De Bruyne had only been on the pitch for five minutes after coming on as a substitute for Riyad Mahrez when he scored. Jesus was the provider, breaking forward and putting in the Belgian, who side-footed Gomes and slotted the ball home.
Jesus finally got his goal on 68 minutes when De Bruyne set him off on a break and he ran the length of the half before finishing brilliantly past Gomes.
City piled on the misery for the poor Hornets with another superb goal on 80 minutes. Bernardo Silva skipped down the left flank and put the ball on a plate for Sterling to bang home his second.
And the England man completed his hat-trick in the closing minutes, poking home after the unlucky Gomes pushed his first effort onto the post.
Key statistics
The pre-match Manchester City vs Watford betting odds here at SBOBET offered the Sky Blues at 1.20. And that was just about right as they simply destroyed the Hornets.
It’s been 50 years since Manchester City beat Leicester City 1-0 to win the 1969 FA Cup, and during their warm up the Sky Blues wore the same red and black striped shirts as did the Citizens half a century ago.
This Manchester City team is prolific, scoring a huge 26 goals in this amazing cup run and became only the third team to score six in an FA Cup final.
What’s next?
After the most dramatic and exhausting Premier League title chase in recent years, maybe Pep will give his boys a couple of days off. But he’s relentless in his pursuit of silverware and a small part of the man will be wondering how this historic treble isn’t a quadruple.
Maybe next year, Pep!
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