2019 FA Cup Final Score: Manchester City 6-0 Watford
Date: Saturday 18th May
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 85,854
Referee: Kevin Friend
Teams:
Manchester City
Ederson, Kyle Walker, Vincent Kompany (C), Aymeric Laporte, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, David Silva, Riyad Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling
Manager: Pep Guardiola
Goal Scorers: David Silva 26, Sterling 81, 87, De Bruyne 61, Jesus 38, 68
Watford
Heurelho Gomes, Kiko Femenia, Adrian Mariappa, Craig Cathcart, Jose Holebas, Will Hughes, Etienne Capoue, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Roberto Pereyra, Gerard Deulofeu, Troy Deeney (C)
Manager: Javi Garcia
Goal Scorer/s: None
The 138th FA Cup Final
The 2019 FA Cup Final was the 138th final of the competition.
Wembley Stadium hosted the match contested between Manchester City and Watford on Saturday 18th May.
During the 2018/19 season Manchester City won an incredible 32 league games in total, drawing two times and losing on four occasions to finish as Premier League Champions. Watford ended up finishing 11th in the Premier League having registered 14 wins, 8 draws and 16 losses.
Manchester City also won the League Cup, beating Chelsea 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the final at Wembley Stadium.
Manchester City’s run to the final saw them beat Rotherham in the third round, Burnley in round four and Newport in the fifth round. They defeated Swansea in round six and then beat Brighton in the semi-finals.
Watford reached the final having defeated Woking in round three, Newcastle in the fourth round and QPR in round five. They beat Crystal Palace in the sixth round and were victorious against Wolves in the semis.
Match Report
The final was surprisingly back and forth in the opening minutes with both sides keeping possession and probing for space.
Watford posed a real danger when in the 21st minute Pereyra passed to Abdoulaye Doucouré in the Manchester City box. His shot struck Vincent Kompany’s arm and Watford players immediately crowded around to claim a penalty.
Yet after consultation with the VAR, Cup final referee Kevin Friend decided not to award a penalty. In addition, he chose to show Doucouré the first yellow card of the match for his persistent protests.
In the 26th minute the deadlock was finally broken, tricky Spanish playmaker David Silva scoring his first goal in 28 games, shooting across Gomes from a Sterling header back into his path.
Just after the half-an-hour mark and Manchester City doubled their lead. Portuguese midfield maestro Bernardo Silva played a ball into a space on the left side of the six-yard box for Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian forward side-footed the ball past Watford keeper Gomes to give Manchester City a 2–0 lead at half time.
Watford kicked off for the second half and had their first chance after 47 minutes when striker Deeney found Pereyra who chose to try to find his teammate Hughes instead of shooting himself and the chance was wasted.
In the 61st minute City extended their lead to 3–0 with a goal from Kevin De Bruyne. Jesus beat Pereyra to a header and found the Belgian who took the ball past Gomes before slotting home from close range.
Three minutes later and it was 4-0 with Jesus scoring on the counter-attack. In the 81st minute it was five as Sterling scored from a Bernardo Silva cross before the Englishman netted again in the 87th minute after his initial shot was pushed onto the post by Gomes. His quick-fire strikes handed City an emphatic six goal lead.
Two minutes into injury time, Stones’ strike from around 10 yards out was saved by Gomes before Kevin Friend blew the final whistle, ending the match with Manchester City winning 6–0 to lift the FA Cup trophy!
Facts
- This game marked a 35-year wait for Watford to appear in an FA Cup Final with their last outing vs Everton in 1984.
- Going into the match, Watford’s odds of winning were slim. No team that finished in the bottom half of the top-flight table had ever beaten the side to finish top in an FA Cup Final.
- Pep Guardiola became the third Spanish manager to win The FA Cup after Liverpool’s Rafael Benitez in 2006 and Wigan boss Roberto Martinez in 2013.
- Manchester City became just the fourth team to win both major domestic cup competitions in the same season after Arsenal in 1992-93, Liverpool in 2000-01 and Chelsea in 2006-07.
2019 FA Cup Results
Semi Final
Manchester City 1-0 Brighton, Watford 3-2 Wolves
Sixth Round
Watford 2-1 Crystal Palace, Swansea 2-3 Manchester City, Wolves 2-1 Manchester United, Millwall 2-2 Brighton (4-5 pens)
Fifth Round
QPR 0-1 Watford, Brighton 2-1 Derby County, Wimbledon 0-1 Millwall, Newport County 1-4 Man City, Bristol City 0-1 Wolves, Doncaster Rovers 0-2 Crystal Palace, Swansea 4-1 Brentford, Chelsea 0-2 Man United
Fourth Round
Arsenal 1-3 Man United, Bristol City 2-1 Bolton, Shrewsbury Town 2-2 Wolves, Newcastle United 0-2 Watford, Brighton 0-0 West Brom, Man City 5-0 Burnley, Swansea 4-1 Gillingham, Accrington Stanley 0-1 Derby County, Portsmouth 1-1 QPR, Middlesbrough 1-1 Newport, Doncaster 2-1 Oldham, Millwall 3-2 Everton, AFC Wimbledon 4-2 West Ham, Crystal Palace 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday, Barnet 3-3 Brentford
Third Round
Tranmere Rovers 0-7 Tottenham, Manchester United 2-0 Reading, Shrewsbury Town 1-1 Stoke City, Bournemouth 1-3 Brighton, West Ham 2-0 Birmingham City, Burnley 1-0 Barnsley, West Brom 1-0 Wigan, Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Luton Town, Bolton Wanderers 5-2 Walsall, Gillingham 1-0 Cardiff City, Brentford 1-0 Oxford United, Everton 2-1 Lincoln City, Chelsea 2-0 Nottingham Forest, Derby County 2-2 Southampton, Accrington Stanley 1-0 Ipswich Town, Fleetwood Town 2-3 AFC Wimbledon, Middlesbrough 5-0 Peterborough, Aston Villa 0-3 Swansea, Bristol City 1-0 Huddersfield Town, Newcastle United 1-1 Blackburn Rovers, Norwich City 0-1 Portsmouth, Crystal Palace 1-0 Grimsby Town, Blackpool 0-3 Arsenal, Manchester City 7-0 Rotherham, Fulham 1-2 Oldham Athletic, Sheffield United 0-1 Barnet, Millwall 2-1 Hull City, Preston North End 1-3 Doncaster Rovers, QPR 2-1 Leeds United, Woking 0-2 Watford, Newport 2-1 Leicester City, Wolves 2-1 Liverpool
