LONDON (REUTERS) - Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as Manchester City crushed Watford 6-0 in the FA Cup final on Saturday (May 18) to become the first team to win the English treble of league championship and both domestic cups in spectacular style.
The victory matched the competition's record final win - set when Bury beat Derby County 116 years ago - and was a fair reflection of yet another command performance by one of the best teams in the history of the English game.
Coming after they retained the Premier League title last week and won the League Cup in a penalty shootout over Chelsea, City's sixth FA Cup triumph made them the eighth team to win the prized League and FA Cup double and first since Chelsea in 2010.
"It was an incredible final for us and we have finished an incredible year," City manager Pep Guardiola told the BBC.
"To all the people at the club a big congratulations, especially the players because they are the reason why we have won these titles."
City led 2-0 at halftime through David Silva and Sterling and effectively sealed the deal when Kevin de Bruyne came off the bench to smash in the third after 61 minutes.
Gabriel Jesus slotted the fourth before Sterling, who was brought up in Wembley, took centre stage with two more in the last 10 minutes to becoming the first player to score an FA Cup final hat-trick since Stan Mortensen in 1953 when Blackpool beat Bolton 4-3 in the "Matthews Final".
Â
Â
Â
"I grew up here and saw this stadium get built. It's a massive dream come true to win trophies here," Sterling said.
"It shows what the manager is building here. He said we needed to get the mentality right and we did that and did it exceptionally well.
"It's been a long season with the World Cup as well but everyone has been on their A-game and come through."
Other than one early chance for Roberto Pereyra Watford never looked remotely capable of ending their 30-year winless run against City in their second appearance in the final having lost to Everton in 1984.
LONG SHOT
It always looked a long shot for them to deliver a classic Cup upset. City had beaten Watford in the teams' last 10 meetings, scoring 32 goals in the process and conceding six while Watford's last win in the fixture came in 1989 in the old Second Division.
The underdogs did have the first clear chance after 11 minutes when Gerard Deulofeu broke and set up Pereyra on the edge of the box but Ederson flew off his line to save with his foot.
Other than that, they spent most of the first half camped deep in their own half and there was an air of inevitability when City struck after 26 minutes as diminutive duo Silva and Sterling won headers against big Watford defenders, allowing Silva to seize on the loose ball and fire past Heurelho Gomes.
They doubled the lead in the 38th minute when Bernardo Silva chipped a perfectly-weighted diagonal ball beyond the flailing Gomes for Jesus, starting ahead of Sergio Aguero, to steer back goalwards and almost over the line before Sterling lashed it into the net.
Watford had trailed Wolves 2-0 in the semi-final before coming back to win 3-2 in extra-time and though they started the second half with more attacking intent, hope was extinguished when City broke at pace, Sterling rolling the ball to De Bruyne who throw Gomes with a dummy before drilling the ball low into the net.
Watford, too late, threw men forward and were exposed when Jesus broke from his own half to tuck the ball under Gomes to make it 4-0 and Bernardo Silva was the provider again as Sterling arrived at the back post to smash in the fifth.
Local boy Sterling fittingly finished things off with his third three minutes from time.
It was a good result for Wolverhampton Wanderers too as they will now qualify for the Europa league via their seventh-place finish in the Premier League.
Paris (AFP) - Tottenham followed in Liverpool's footsteps by pulling off one of the most stunning fightbacks in Champions League history on Wednesday as Lucas Moura's hat-trick snatched a dramatic
Great UEFA Champions League comebacks
Barca give fresh hope to La Liga rivals after Bilbao stalemate Lionel Messi was short of fitness and Barcelona lacked spark as a goalless draw away to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday offered fresh hope to their rivals in the title race.
Barca give fresh hope to La Liga rivals after Bilbao stalemate
ABERDEEN, Scotland (AP) — A joint World Cup bid by North and South Korea is being talked up by FIFA President Gianni Infantino. "I have been hearing for the Women's World Cup in 2023, the two
Infantino says joint Korean Women's World Cup bid possible
Chris Wood scored twice as Burnley virtually assured Premier League safety with a 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Cardiff City on Saturday which left the Welsh club deep in relegation trouble and their manager Neil Warnock fuming.
Burnley vs. Cardiff City - Football Match Report - April 13
global.espn.com/football/report?gameId=513502
Chris Wood scored twice as Burnley all but secured Premier League safety with a 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Cardiff, leaving the Welsh club deep in relegation trouble and their manager Neil Warnock fuming. Cardiff, occupying the final relegation slot in 18th place, are on 28 points, five behind 17th-placed Brighton with five games remaining.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is relaxed about Mohamed Salah's goalscoring drought, saying the Egyptian forward remains a key part of the title chasers' attacking armoury. Salah, who scored
Klopp relaxed about Salah's Liverpool drought - Pulse Nigeria
Premier League investigates Man City over FFP allegations. Reuters. 8 March 2019. Reblog. Share. Tweet. Share. Soccer Football - Premier League - AFC Bournemouth v Manchester City - Vitality
Pep Guardiola on Juventus, Man City FFP allegations, Antoine
Manchester City went back to the top of the Premier League and inflicted yet another defeat on Manchester United with a 2-0 derby win at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Premier League final table: Manchester City wins title over
Cristiano Ronaldo has dismissed fears after limping off during Portugal's 1-1 draw with Serbia on Monday night amid claims of a hamstring injury. In the 31st minute, the 34-year-old Juventus forward suddenly stopped running and griped his thigh, with Portugal chasing the game after a Dusan Tadic penalty goal handed Serbia the lead.
Zinedine Zidane allays fears over Cristiano Ronaldo injury
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has been crowned PFA Player of the Year for 2018-19, with Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling winning the Young Player of the Year award.
Virgil van Dijk and Vivianne Miedema named PFA players of the
MANCHESTER UNITED REVEALED on Thursday that sacking Jose Mourinho and his staff cost the club nearly £20 million. The sum of £19.6 million (€22.2 million)) which is listed under "exceptional items" in the club's second-quarter results, includes pay-outs for the members of Mourinho's staff who left with him after he was sacked in December.
Man Utd latest financial results: 6 things you might have
Translate text from over 50 languages! Quick setup. Simple use to quickly translate multiple lines of text with just a few clicks. Many extra tools including virtual keyboard, language definitions, word of the day and much more.
'No issue' with faith in youth, Football News & Top Stories
Mauricio Pochettino has challenged his Tottenham team to back up their new world-class facilities with world-class performances on the pitch. Spurs kicked off a new era for the club in their new
Poch Tells Tottenham To Purchase Players - ca.news.yahoo.com
Former Arsenal, Real Madrid and Spain star Jose Antonio Reyes has been killed in a car crash, his hometown club Sevilla said on Saturday. He was 35. Reyes, who shot to fame at Sevilla before a
Former Arsenal and Sevilla star Jose Antonio Reyes dies in
Rangers crashed out of the Europa League on Thursday after falling 1-0 at Rapid Vienna, while crowd trouble sparked by Eintracht Frankfurt fans marred the German sides win at Lazio. Steven Gerrards Rangers, who had to win in Vienna in their final group game in order to qualify for the last 32, fin ..
AC Milan out of Europe as Eintracht fans run riot at Lazio
0 comments:
Post a Comment