Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring his sides third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Watford at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster says it is only a matter of time before Manchester City smash 10 goals in a match after being on the end of an 8-0 hammering.
The Hornets felt the full force of the champions’ attacking power on Saturday as they were dismantled at the Etihad Stadium, just four months after they were overpowered 6-0 in the FA Cup final.
Pep Guardiola’s men have also registered a 9-0 and two 7-0s in knockout action in 2019.
“They will do it to somebody,” Foster said. “There will be a nine or 10 out there soon.
“As a goalie, coming here in the first place it’s almost an achievement to keep it at one or two goals. At times, if they’re on it, they are incredible.
“They were scary at times. It was just relentless. You could see them opening us up and the chances developing in front of your eyes. It was absolutely no fun. In all honesty, it could have been double digits.”
Watford, who remain at the foot of the table with just two points, have become City’s favourite whipping boys. The Hornets have now lost their past 12 games against City, conceding 46 goals in the process.
David Silva opened the scoring inside the first minute and City were 5-0 up inside 18 minutes.
Bernardo Silva finished with a hat-trick while Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez, Nicolas Otamendi and Kevin De Bruyne also struck in the rout.
Manchester United’s 9-0 win against Ipswich in 1995 remains the record for the biggest winning margin in the Premier League.
Fernandinho, who played in a defensive role for City, said the side were capable of scoring 10 goals but that winning games was the main aim after their shock defeat against Norwich the previous week.
The 34-year-old said: “We know in football everything can happen. Sometimes we play so good and make a very good performance but don’t score any goals, now we’ve scored a lot of goals.
“We just try to play our football. After what happened against Norwich there had to be a response for the fans.”