Man City flirts with EPL record in 8-0 rout
Bernardo Silva scored a hat trick as Manchester City thrashed visiting Watford 8-0 on Saturday, falling one goal short of tying the record for the heaviest victory in Premier League history.
There were also goals for David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez, Nicolas Otamendi and Kevin De Bruyne at Etihad Stadium, as the champions demolished the last-place team in the league.
Manchester United’s 9-0 win over Ipswich in 1995 remains the biggest victory since the Premier League began in 1992. It came four months after City beat Watford 6-0 in the FA Cup final to complete an unprecedented domestic treble last season.
City led 5-0 after 18 minutes and 7-0 after 60 minutes Saturday, putting United’s record at risk. After De Bruyne scored in the 85th minute, City’s fans urged their team forward, even encouraging goalkeeper Ederson to shoot.
“If you let five in in 20 minutes, you fear the worst. You think cricket scores,” Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster said after the club’s heaviest league loss in its 138-year history. “They are without doubt the best team I have ever played against. We were poor, didn’t lay a glove on them but at times it was breathtaking watching them.”
City’s win was the perfect reaction to the two-time defending league champ’s surprising 3-2 loss last weekend at Norwich.
Barcelona fell to promoted Granda 2-0. Lionel Messi made his La Liga season debut after suffering an injury in early August, but the two-time defending champ stayed on seven points for its worst league start in 25 years. Granada leads the standings with 10 points. Sevilla, also on 10 points, hosts Real Madrid on Sunday.
Auto racing: Rookie Colton Herta won the pole for Sunday’s IndyCar season finale at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif. The 19-year-old qualified first with a time of 1 minute, 10.1405 seconds on the 2.238 mile road course. Defending series champ Scott Dixon will start second. Alexander Rossi qualified third and points leader Josef Newgarden fourth. He leads Rossi in the season standings by 41 points. ... Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing picked up the contract option for next season on former Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato. The 42-year-old Japanese driver has two victories in 2019. ... Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco claimed a third straight Formula One pole after outpacing two-time defending series champ and current points leader Lewis Hamilton of England in qualifying for Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix. Leclerc, who won the last two F1 races from the pole, clocked a lap of 1:36.217 at the 3.1-mile Marina Bay street circuit. Hamilton, for Mercedes, was 0.191 seconds back. Leclerc’s teammate Sebastian Vettel will start third.
Golf: Sebastian Munoz of Colombia shot a third-round 9-under 63 to take a one-shot lead at the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss. Munoz reached 16under 200. Carlos Ortiz (65) was second, while midpoint-leader Byeong Hun An of South Korea (70) was third. ... Kirk Triplett and Ken Duke held a one-stroke lead after the second round of the PGA Tour Champions’ Sanford Invitational in Sioux Falls, S.D.
NFL: The league fined DE Myles Garrett $42,112 for a pair of hits on Jets QB Trevor Siemian in the Browns’ 23-3 victory Monday night. The league leader in sacks with five was penalized four times in the game, and his second roughing the passer penalty resulted in a season-ending ankle injury to Siemian. Garrett also was fined $10,527 in Week 1 for hitting Titans TE Delanie Walker in the face mask. ... TE Tyler Higbee will miss the Rams’ game against the Browns. Higbee suffered a lung contusion in last weekend’s win over the Saints.
Tennis: Roger Federer beat Nick Kyrgios 6-7 (5), 7-5, 10-7, and Rafael Nadal beat Milos Raonic 6-3, 7-6 (1) to help Team Europe retain its lead over Team World on Day 2 of the Laver Cup in Geneva. Team Europe leads 7-5 ahead of Sunday’s final four matches. ... U.S. Open runner-up and No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia and No. 4 seed Borna Coric of Croatia advanced to Sunday’s final at the St. Petersburg Open. ... Sofia Kenin beat former US Open champ Sam Stosur of Australia 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 to win the Guangzhou International in China. It was Kenin’s third WTA title in 2019.
— News services