Six appeal: Manchester City hammer Watford 6-0 in the most one-sided FA Cup Final in over 100 years

Raheem Sterling was the hero for City as he grabbed a Cup Final hat-trick as the newly-crowned Premier League champions went goal crazy at Wembley.

Watford actually started the match quite brightly, and spurned two good early chances to take the lead before City went down the other end of the field and took the lead through David Silva’s first goal of 2019.

That goal lifted any pre-match nerves from Pep Guardiola’s side, who grabbed a second when Gabriel Jesus’s effort from an acute angle was tapped into the net from point-blank range by Sterling. 

Watford had qualified for the final after coming back from a two-goal deficit in the semi-finals, but any hopes of a repeat were buried just after the hour mark when Kevin de Bruyne walked around Watford keeper Heurelho Gomes to add a third.

Then City ran riot. Jesus netted – without Sterling’s help – on 68 minutes, then Sterling completed his hat-trick with two goals in the last 10 minutes to seal City’s victory in the most one-sided FA Cup Final since Bury defeated Derby County 6-0 in the 1902-03 final at Crystal Palace.

City’s win also completed an unprecedented domestic treble, as they added the FA Cup to the Premier League and League Cup titles they had already won during the campaign.

In addition, Guardiola became only the seventh manager to capture all three domestic honors during their career, and City’s six goals meant they finished the season with a total of 169 goals from 61 games played – a new record.

Their win also confirms the lineup for the curtain-raiser for the 2019-20 English football season, with City now set to take on Liverpool in the Community Shield at Wembley in August.