Manchester: Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were in scintillating form as they smashed eight goals past hapless basement side Watford at the Etihad to cut the gap on Liverpool at the top of the Premier League to two points.
Bernardo Silva grabbed a brilliant hat-trick, with Nicolas Otamendi, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez and David Silva also getting on the scoresheet.
It was breathless stuff as David Silva grabbed the opener in 58 seconds and the home side never let up throughout the next 89 minutes to put last week’s defeat to Norwich City firmly behind them.
The dominant performance sent out a strong signal to Klopp’s Liverpool that they will not give up their title without a fight and heaped more misery on bottom club Watford, who are already on their second manager of the season.
“It was a great performance, 8-0 says everything,” said Bernardo Silva. “It’s very good to get the three points after defeat at Norwich and I’m very happy with my first hat-trick of my career. My first match ball at home.
“All teams have good and bad moments, the way you react to the bad is the most important thing. Once again this team showed we want to fight for the Premier League and all the titles.”
Earlier, James Maddison scored a brilliant winner to help Leicester City come from behind and beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday in a match dominated by VAR drama.
The Video Assistant Referee was heavily involved early on after Leicester midfielder Wilfred Ndidi had bundled the ball into the net, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.
There was no question over the opening goal in the 29th minute as Harry Kane finished superbly past Kasper Schmeichel to give Spurs the lead.
Serge Aurier thought he had doubled the visitors’ advantage only for VAR to intervene again, much to the home fans’ delight, with Son Heung-min adjudged offside in the build- up.
That proved crucial as Ricardo Pereira levelled things up in the 69th minute from 12 yards, swinging the momentum in the home side’s favour.
Maddison completed the turnaround with a superb strike from 25 yards five minutes from time, drilling the ball past the despairing dive of Spurs goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga to move Leicester up to provisional second in the table.
“If we score the second the game is over,” Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said. “It gives belief to a team that could have been dead.
“It is true to concede two goals every game makes it difficult to win.”
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers added: “It’s what happens with VAR, you have to get your head round it. It works for you and against you. Worked both ways for us today.”
In the other matches, Burnley humbled Norwich City 2-0, while Sheffield United added to Everton’s concerns with a 2-0 win at Goodison Park
Results
Leicester 2 Tottenham 1
Burnley 2 Norwich 0
Everton 0 Sheffield 2
Manchester City 8 Watford 0
Biggest winning margins in a Premier League match
Manchester City-Watford (8-0) 21 Sep, 2019
Southampton-Sunderland (8-0) 18 Oct, 2014
Chelsea-Aston Villa (8-0) 23 Dec, 2012
Chelsea-Wigan Athletic (8-0) 09 May, 2010
Tottenham Hotspur-Wigan Athletic (9-1) 22 Nov, 2009
Newcastle United-Sheffield Wednesday (8-0) 19 Sep, 1999
