Manchester City beat Watford to maintain top spot

Man City's opponent in this match is not highly rated, when Watford with 43 points is currently ranked 8th on the rankings and coach Javi Garcia and his team are confident of staying in the league so they do not care about the remaining 8 rounds.

This does not put them under any pressure, but on the contrary, Man City is the team under pressure when they have to win if they do not want to lose the top position to Liverpool when in this round, The Kop only has to face a weak opponent, Burnley, and is expected to have 3 points to maintain the two-horse race with Man City in the remaining rounds.

Manchester City are on a winning streak. Photo: Getty

With impressive form in recent rounds, along with playing at home at Etihad Stadium, it is not difficult to understand why Coach Guardiola's team rushed to attack as soon as referee Paul Tierne blew the starting whistle, as if wanting to immediately deal with the opponent from the first minutes of the match.

And the score was almost opened for Man City in the 7th minute of the match when Mahrez had a favorable pass from the right wing to D. Silva in a favorable position. But the Spanish player sent the ball just wide of the goal.

In the following minutes, the away team Watford had to defend against the home team's continuous attacks, especially Zinchenko's shot from the left wing, the ball drifted across goalkeeper Foster's goal, but unfortunately, Aguero couldn't get in in time.

In the 28th minute of the match, the score should have been opened for Man City when Bernardo crossed the ball from the right wing, but Aguero in a favorable position headed the ball past the post, too bad for Man City.

On the away team side, Watford players were always put in a passive state. When there was a chance to attack, the force was too thin, and they were often stopped in the midfield area.

The first half was a match in which Man City controlled the ball a lot, created at least 4 chances but could not convert them into goals. Besides that, goalkeeper Foster was excellent when he blocked 2 long-range shots from Man City players.

The first half ended with no goals scored.

Entering the second half, in the first minute of the match, Gundogan had a delicate pass to Aguero, the Argentine player chested the ball for Sterling on the left wing to rush in and finish into the far corner, defeating goalkeeper Foster, the assistant referee raised the flag for offside.

However, after consulting with the assistant referee, the referee awarded the goal to Man City. The score was 1 - 0 for Man City in the 46th minute of the match, a controversial goal, but the decision was made.

Sterling scored all three goals in the 3-1 win over Watford. Photo: Getty

3 minutes later, in the 49th minute of the match, in an attack on the right wing, Mahrez crossed the ball in a very favorable way for Sterling to tap the ball into the net, doubling the gap for Man City. The score was 2 - 0 for Man City.

The disaster for Watford did not stop there, in the 59th minute of the match, D. Silva had a smart pass for Sterling to run down the left wing to break the offside trap, after two moves to eliminate Watford's defenders, the English player fired a dangerous shot that tore through the net of goalkeeper Foste, 3 - 0 for Man City, a hat-trick for Sterling.

The away team's hope was rekindled in the 68th minute of the match, after a free kick from goalkeeper Foster in the home field, the ball was passed upfield, Denny headed the ball for the newly substituted player Deulofeu to run down and finish, narrowing the gap to 1-3 for Watford.

With the goal to reduce the gap, Watford players were in high spirits, and they began to have more coherent attacks and more or less created an equal opportunity with the home team. But against a strong and classy opponent like Man City, the away team did not have many opportunities to create.

Realizing that the opponent was not too strong and the score of 3-1 was safe, Coach Guardiola instructed his students to slow down the pace of the match. Although the away team tried very hard, against a strong opponent like Man City, it was really difficult for the "Wasps" to make a difference.

In the 90 + 4 minute, the referee blew the whistle to end the match, at home at Etihad Stadium, Man City won 3 - 1 against Watford. With this victory, "The Citizens" still maintained the top position as their goal regardless of whether Liverpool won or lost in this round.

This match is also a mental stimulant for coach Pep Guardiola and his team. In the middle of next week, at home, they will have the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Schalke - the representative from Germany, the opponent that Man City won 3 - 2 in the first leg away.

Ranking. Source: Getty

Goal scorer:

Man City:Sterling (46', 49', 59')

Watford:Deulofeu (68')

Starting lineup:

Man City:Ederson, Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Zinchenko, Gundogan, Silva, Mahrez, Sterling, Bernardo, Aguero

Watford:Foster, Janmaat, Britos, Kabasele, Masina, Doucoure, Cleverley, Capoue, Femenia, Gray, Success

Thanh Vinh