Watford in deep trouble after Raheem Sterling sparks Manchester City rout

Watford’s players had not seen it coming despite the downward trends over the previous 14 Premier League games and, even by the standards of the club owner, Gino Pozzo, the decision to sack Nigel Pearson was a brutal one. With only two matches of the season remaining, the idea was to jolt the players into action. If Pozzo felt that they were drifting under their former manager, then something had to change and quickly. Could they eke out something extra under the interim coach, Hayden Mullins?

The short answer against a Manchester City team that showed an absence of pity was no and the manner of Watford’s capitulation after Raheem Sterling had opened the scoring on 31 minutes was a worry. Mullins had set up to contain and the pre-match feeling was that even a narrow defeat might not be the worst result if goal difference was to be a factor in Watford’s bid for survival.

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Mullins and his players did not even get that and, with Aston Villa beating Arsenal later in the evening, the upshot was that Watford have slipped to third from bottom of the table – level on points with Villa but one goal worse off. They face a fraught finale on Sunday when they travel to Arsenal.

This was as one-sided a game as could be imagined, the gulf in class and, as significantly, belief yawning wide. Sterling got his second in the 40th minute when he followed up to score after Ben Foster had brilliantly kept out his penalty and the second half was an ordeal for everybody who holds Watford dear.

Watford have parted company with permanent managers 11 times under the Pozzo family’s ownership since 2012 – they have sacked three this season – and out of the chaos came only misery here. For long spells, Watford could barely lay a glove on City and the hard truth was that Pep Guardiola’s team ought to have scored more.

They had to be content with another two goals from Phil Foden and Aymeric Laporte; the first after Foster had denied Sterling in a one-on-one, the latter a header following a Kevin De Bruyne free-kick.

It was the start of Mullins’s second caretaker manager stint of the season – one of the many unusual details to Watford’s situation – with the first having been in December when he lost at Leicester and drew at home against Crystal Palace. The task in front of him was enormous and not only because Watford’s previous two fixtures against City had ended in an aggregate 14-0 defeat.

City had one eye on their Champions League last‑16 second-leg tie against Real Madrid on Friday week but they will not be able to merely switch it on when the Spanish club visit the Etihad Stadium. It is about maintaining the sharpness between now and then, both physically and mentally, and that meant finding a way through Mullins’s 4‑5‑1 system.

For the opening half-hour, Watford remained compact and restricted City to a long-range shot from Rodri that deflected and forced Foster into a fine save. But it was always going to be a tall order to sit back and fend off City for the entire game.

The tide turned sharply after City caught something of a break. Kyle Walker shaped to whip in a cross from the right only to get the technique wrong, dragging the ball lower and shorter than he had intended. Happily for him, Sterling had dropped into a pocket of space and the ball went straight to him. He controlled and fizzed a drive past Foster.

City’s second followed a block tackle from Foden to win possession from Tom Cleverly and a quick pass forward to Sterling. The rest was all about Sterling’s footwork. He tricked Christian Kabasele into going to ground and glided around him before being caught by Will Hughes.

Sterling went for power from the spot only to be denied by Foster, who got a strong hand up to claw the ball out. Sadly for him, Sterling was the only player to react and he rolled the ball into the empty net.

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Watford’s threat was slim to non-existent. City pulled them this way and that and Foster must have felt like the only line of resistance.

For Watford, there was no out ball – only the grim inevitability that the scoreline would get worse. Foster thwarted Gabriel Jesus in a one-on-one in the 46th minute and he would also save from Sterling and De Bruyne while Adrian Mariappa was fortunate to avoid conceding a penalty when Bernardo Silva’s shot hit his hand.

At the very end, Jesus had a header ruled out for offside. Watford’s only clear chance came on 79 minutes but the substitute Danny Welbeck took a heavy touch as he ran through and was denied by Ederson. Watford’s grip on their top-flight status now hangs by a thread.