MANCHESTER CITY underlined their dominance of English football with the biggest ever FA Cup win to complete an unprecedented haul of all three domestic trophies.
Raheem Sterling claimed a treble of his own, hitting the final goal of the day over the line after Heurelho Gomes touched his original shot against the post.
The goal equalled Bury’s 6-0 demolition of Derby in 1903 and made the England striker the first man to score a hat-trick in the Cup final since Stan Mortensen in 1953.
It was an emphatic finish to a game which, in the opening exchanges, Watford had valiantly tried to play a part in.
Their fans, who waved giant flags to the bitter end and were not going to let a small thing like the scoreline spoil their evening, will maybe even feel that two early incidents before the opening goal robbed them of their chance of glory.
They are, of course, wrong.
Manchester City were always too good not to win this in the end. But with a bit more luck, Watford might have made it a very different Cup final.
The giant screens at either end of the stadium said 10 min 12sec when Gerard Deulofeu picked out the unmarked Roberto Pereyra on the edge of the box.
The Watford player’s shot was on target but that is why Pep Guardiola asked his board to spend a then-record £35m on a goalkeeper.
Ederson stood tall then spread himself to block the shot and the goal the game probably needed never materialised.
Then the monster of VAR reared its head – or rather did not – in the 26th minute. Abdoulaye Doucoure’s shot clearly hit Kompany’s arm as it thrashed around up beside his face. Referee Kevin Friend waved play on and nobody in the video referee’s room was about to suggest he take another look.
Four minutes later and City were belatedly on their way anyway. Raheem Sterling nodded the ball forward, David Silva watched it drop, met it perfectly on the half-volley and a deflection off Kiko Femenia robbed Heurelho Gomes of any last hope of stopping it.
A sublime curling ball to the far post form Bernardo Silva was turned back into the net by Gabriel Jesus… but no! Raheem Sterling got to the ball just in time to thrash it into the net and claim the goal – it would be great to be a fly on the dressing room wall when those to chat later.
As it was, Jesus would get his goal – but not before another effort was taken away from him, this time by the assistant referee’s flag just after half-time.
By the time he had charged from the half-way line to slide the ball under Gomes in the 68th minute, City were already three in front.
Substitute Kevin De Bruyne had had an almost immediate impact, dummying Gomes to leave him dumped unceremoniously on his backside in probably his last ever game before taking the ball round him and slamming it into the net.
Leroy Sane would later emerge from the bench although it was Raheem Sterling who dealt the final two blows, with a similar poacher's effort six minutes before he completed that hat-trick.
Sergio Aguero did not even need to strip off.
Having that level of firepower is reserve was the reason why City were always going to win this mismatch however brave the Watford resolve.
Once again, Guardiola’s side had shown themselves to be on a different level to their opponents – an extra layer of class that has enabled them to sweep all before them is such an unprecedented manner… this season.
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