Manchester City finished off Pep Guardiola’s debut season on a high as they humiliated a struggling Watford side 5-0 at Vicarage Road, which qualifies them for the Champions League next season.
City came into this game only three points clear of fifth-placed Arsenal, with a draw the minimum requirement to guarantee a third place finish.
City were as dominant as ever as they proceeded to swat the Hornets aside. The Citizens took the lead through Vincent Kompany on the five-minute mark, with a Kevin De Bruyne corner finding his fellow countryman unmarked for a free header.
Soon after, Sergio Aguero scored two quickfire goals from counter-attacks. His first goal came from a weighted through ball from De Bruyne, which found the Argentinian to give City a 2-0 lead. He soon got his third after a great ball from David Silva found Leroy Sane, who skinned Daryl Janmaat to put a low cross into Aguero for 3-0.
The first half masterclass was complete when Fernandinho bundled home after terrible defensive awareness from Watford.
In the second half, Gabriel Jesus added to his already impressive tally with his seventh goal in eight Premier League starts, which was in a game where he also got his fourth assist. This means he has now contributed to 11 goals in eight Premier League starts. His goal came from a darting run by fellow striker Aguero, whose cross-field pass found the Brazilian and he deftly chipped the ball over opposing goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.
At full-time, Guardiola and his players rejoiced after successfully qualifying for Europe’s elite competition for the seventh season in a row, which makes them the team with the longest active streak after Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League for first time in 20 years.
Here are our City player ratings from the game.
