Manchester City kept their hopes of a historic quadruple alive with a win against Watford in Manchester in the Fourth Round of The FA Cup. Manuel Pellegrini’s team had to come from 2-0 down in order to progress, but managed it thanks to some inspired substitutions a superb hat-trick from Sergio Agüero, who has been on fire since returning from a thigh injury.
There was an air of expectation at The Etihad, with many City fans expecting their side to be able to progress with ease, much as they had done last season, when The Hornets lost 3-0 to The Citizens in The Third Round on this ground in January 2013. Pellegrini fielded a weakened side ahead of his side’s trip to Tottenham during the week. Marcos Lopes and Jack Rodwell both started, and in the first half the sides failed to really get going.
The visitors managed to take a shock lead after 21 minutes, but one which was incredibly well-deserved. Watford had managed to limit Manchester City in their play, and were enjoying success on the counter. Some good passing play from the away side lead to Fernando Forestieri being played through on goal. He cut inside and fired a low shot past Costel Pantilimon to send Watford into the lead.
Nine minutes later, it was 2-0. More superb passing from The Hortnets put Deeney through on goal, and he beat Pantilimon to the ball as he slid it under the Romanian goalkeeper with ease to double the shock lead. People could scarcely believe their eyes, with Watford taking apart a team who had managed to score over 100 goals this season already.
At half-time, boos rung around The Etihad, and rightly so. Manchester City had been poor throughout, with Lopes being the only player to have really done anything by that point. Manuel Pellegrini gave his team the hairdryer treatment, and sent them out to get a result. Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta both came on during the break too, with Martín Demichelis moving into midfield.
Stevan Jovetić came on after 12 minutes of the second half, and within minutes the home side were back in the side. Aleksandar Kolarov put in a strong low cross, which Edin Džeko got on the end of. Jon Bond was able to stop his shot finding the net, but the rebound merely found Agüero, who put the ball into a partially empty net to halve the deficit with half an hour remaining.
It then took 19 minutes for The Blues to level the game, after a very good second half. On the break, Džeko found Agüero just outside the box in the right channel, who cut in and curled a superb shot past Jon Bond into the net in front of the City fans. With 11 minutes remaining, Sergio Agüero had saved the day once again. He certainly deserved a second goal after putting in a lot of effort in the second 45 minutes.
As time ticked away, it looked ever more likely that Watford were earning a draw and taking the tie back to Vicarage Road. Manchester City kept the pressure on however, and eventually their efforts prevailed as they managed to grab a goal to put them in front with just three minutes of normal time remaining. Kolarov picked the ball up fully 35 yards from goal, and fired off one of his trademark long-range shots towards goal. Jon Bond looked to have gathered it in his hands, but it slipped underneath the 20-year-old and across the line.
As Watford tried to put the pressure on and gain an equaliser, Manchester City were able to break and get a fourth goal. Jesús Navas put a high cross into the box towards the back post, where Agüero was lurking. He headed the ball below Bond to complete his perfect hat-trick and the win for his side. It capped a very good turn-around in the second half, but doesn’t mask what was a poor first 45 minutes.
The win now sends The Blues through to The Fifth Round, which will be drawn on the 26th January. Fans have a right to be disappointed with the first-half showing, but the second half domination shows that City can more than play after set-backs like the 2-0 deficit they had to overturn. They now make the trip to White Hart Lane during the week, looking to strengthen their league position.