Hell hath no fury like a Pep team, scorned.
The Premier League champions bounced back from their surprise loss at Norwich by taking out all of their pent-up anger on poor Watford, who just didn't see it coming in an 8-0 loss. Burnley brought Norwich back down to Earth too, while young Aron Ramsdale looks a future England goalkeeper.
De Bruyne is playing football at a completely different level to everyone else at the moment. He seems to see matches at a higher level of consciousness than others and Watford were absolutely blown away by his passing, delivery, and awareness. Two assists, four big chances created, 66 (88%) passes completed (very high for an AMC) all topped up by a rocket of a goal into Ben Foster's roof of the net. Genius.
Bernardo Silva isn't far behind De Bruyne in the brilliance stakes and he could well be one of the best signings Guardiola has made at any club. A hat-trick from his wide attack position, numerous key passes and a general feeling that any time he was on the ball, City would score.
Norwich were brought crashing down to Earth by a classic centre-forward display from Chris Wood. Constantly closing and harrying Norwich's attempts to play out from the back, he was an aerial menace, including nodding home the opener before effectively sealing the win with a neat second. It's not been Wood's best season so far, but he was on unplayable form.
| EPL | Sep 20, 2019 | W | |
Ah that rare thing in football, a goalkeeping assist. Ramsdale's long clearance in the final moments set up some calamitous Southampton defending to allow Callum Wilson to seal victory, but the foundation was laid by some excellent goalkeeping from the 21-year-old, who repelled the home side's almost constant attacks and it took a penalty to beat him.
How great is Aguero's football life, feeding off chances created by De Bruyne and Silva? He's certainly taking advantage. The Argentine has scored in the first six Premier League games of the season and here he made hay, scoring a typical Aguero strike while laying on another. 14 touches in the box suggests Watford could barely get near him. Is the 31-year-old getting better with age?
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Most other weeks Riyad Mahrez (8.7), David Silva (8.3) and Rodri (8.3) would have been in the running for MOTM but such was the quality of their team-mates they have been left overshadowed.
John McGinn (8) was unlucky to be on the losing side away to Arsenal, while Jack O'Connell's (7.9) combative performance kept Everton at bay and landed Sheffield United another good result.
ROUND TO FORGET
Ben Foster (3.8) was very good-natured in his post-match comments despite shipping eight goals to City in the kind of game that will give him nightmares for years. The rest of his back four won't have good memories, either.
