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Pep Guardiola praises players for not being "boring" in second half

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola praised his side's second-half performance in their 8-0 thrash...
Ben Finnegan
Ben Finnegan

8:23 AM - 22 Sep 2019



Pep Guardiola praises players...

Sport

Pep Guardiola praises players for not being "boring" in second half

Ben Finnegan
Ben Finnegan

8:23 AM - 22 Sep 2019



Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola praised his side's second-half performance in their 8-0 thrashing of Watford in the Premier League, saying usually when the score is 5-0 at half-time "it's boring".

Bernardo Silva got a hat-trick and one each from David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez, and Kevin De Bruyne helped the Citizens to victory.

"We shot on target five times for five goals," Pep Guardiola said, speaking to Sky Sports. "The quality of players we had upfront made the difference. In the first minutes, we gave them two chances to score two goals and they didn't.

"In the middle upfront, we have a huge amount of talent and that is why we've done what we have done. The difference is the talent we have upfront.

"What I liked the most is normally when it's 5-0 at half time the second half is not serious, it's boring, everyone does what they want. But we did completely the opposite, we were serious, more aggressive with our pressing and made a very good second half.

"People still don't understand - journalists, pundits, and former players - losing games is part of life. I have the same feeling now that I had after Norwich, so that was not a bad performance. We can lose the games; the important thing is the approach and how we react."

Meanwhile, Watford remain rooted to the foot of the Premier League table. Manager Quique Sanchez Flores is still winless on his return to Vicarage Road, despite his side coming from two-goals-down to snatch a 2-2 draw against Arsenal last week.

"It's a very bad day for us. You don't want to receive this," said Sanchez Flores. "The first minutes were really hard for us.

"We looked a little scared at the start of the match, we conceded very easy goals and in 15 minutes everything was done. If you play Manchester City and add mistakes, it's very dangerous, but we will learn a lot. We just need to say sorry to the fans."



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Manchester City Pep Guardiola Premier League Quique Sanchez Flores Watford

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