Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as Manchester City crushed Watford 6-0 in the English FA Cup final match on Saturday at Wembley.
They have now become the first team to win the English treble of league championship and both domestic cups in spectacular style.
The victory matched the competition’s record final win —- set when Bury beat Derby County 116 years ago.
Also, it was a fair reflection of yet another command performance by one of the best teams in the history of the English game.
This has come after they retained the English Premier League (EPL) title last week and won the League Cup earlier in a penalty kicks shootout over Chelsea.
Manchester City’s sixth FA Cup triumph made them the eighth team to win the prized League and FA Cup double and first since Chelsea in 2010.
“It was an incredible final for us and we have finished an incredible year,” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said.
“To all the people at the club, a big congratulations, especially the players because they are the reason why we have won these titles.”
Manchester City led 2-0 at half-time through David Silva and Sterling.
They effectively sealed the win when Kevin de Bruyne came off the bench to smash in the third after 61 minutes.
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Gabriel Jesus slotted the fourth before Sterling, who was brought up in Wembley, took centre stage with two more in the last 10 minutes.
He thus became the first player to score an FA Cup final hat-trick since Stan Mortensen in 1953 when Blackpool beat Bolton 4-3 in the “Matthews Final.”
“I grew up here and saw this stadium get built. It’s a massive dream come true to win trophies here,” Sterling said.
“It shows what the manager is building here. He said we needed to get the mentality right and we did that and did it exceptionally well.
“It’s been a long season with the World Cup as well, but everyone has been on their A-game and come through.”
Other than one early chance for Roberto Pereyra, Watford never looked remotely capable of ending their 30-year winless run against Manchester City.
It was their second appearance in the final, having lost 0-2 to Everton in 1984.
Reuters/NAN
