Manchester City's Raheem Sterling (r) celebrates scoring their first goal against Watford at Vicarage Road. Reuters

Sterling, Foden and a Champions League pointer: Five things we learnt from Watford 0 Manchester City 4



Pep Guardiola was pleased to see Manchester City take a step towards their best form with a 4-0 win over Watford ahead of next month's Champions League tie with Real Madrid.

A first-half brace from Raheem Sterling and goals after the break by Phil Foden and Aymeric Laporte helped them return to winning ways after losing to Arsenal on Saturday in the FA Cup semi-finals.

The win leaves Watford deep in relegation trouble with one game left of the Premier League season.

Here's what we learnt from a one-sided contest at Vicarage Road.

Raheem Sterling's best season yet

The star of the show yet again, the England forward scored two more to take his tally for the season to 29, and nine goals in eight starts since Project Restart.

When he plays like this he, and City, are unstoppable. He taunts defenders, runs at speed and knows when to pass, creating space for others.

He was somewhat fortunate to find himself in so much space for the first goal, but his finish was calm and deadly accurate. You know when things are going your way when his penalty was saved by Ben Foster but he was first to the rebound and had an easy tap-in.

City for the Champions League

Manchester City have a 2-1 lead over Real Madrid going into the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on August 7. Overcome the champions of Spain at the Etihad, and play like this to the best of their considerable ability and it's difficult to see who could stop them.

Granted, a possible quarter-final against Juventus and semi-final up against Barcelona or Bayern Munich is not exactly a stroll in the park, but free-scoring City will not be afraid of anyone and Pep Guardiola will be desperate to lift the biggest club trophy of them all.

Phil Foden, ready made superstar

The City midfielder only turned 20 two months ago, yet is proving to be a formidable player already. He has made 36 appearances for in all competitions this season, and scored eight goals, his latest coming against hapless Watford. More importantly, he has looked more and more comfortable in a team of superstars as the season has progressed, once again looking a class apart at Vicarage Road.

It's impossible to overestimate the impact of David Silva as City over the last decade, and of course the Spanish genius will be missed when he moves on this summer. But Guardiola will take a great deal of comfort from the fact he has a young Englishman ready to step up and take his place already on the books.

Look out, Liverpool

After another breathtaking performance it's difficult to fathom how City have managed to lose nine Premier League games this season. including at Norwich City, Wolves and Southampton.

Even Pep has been puzzled, by his own admission. But one thing is certain, Liverpool - still an incredible 15 points clear with a game in hand - will not be allowed to run away with the title again next season.

Pep will have City hungry to close that gap. Managers always say there is only one thing harder than winning the title, and that's keeping it. Look out for a almighty tussle between the Premier League heavyweights in 2020-21 - with Chelsea and Manchester United also determined to have a say.

Sacking three managers not the answer for Watford

Watford became the first Premier League team to sack three managers in a season when Nigel Pearson departed on Sunday, but the change of management made little difference.

No blame can be placed on interim boss Hayden Mullins, who had less than 48 hours to prepare to face one of the best sides in Europe, but how can players expect to respond when they don't know who is in charge one week to the next?

City have tormented Watford over the last few seasons - the last three games reads Manchester City 18 Watford 0 - but clearly changing management is not the route to success. Maybe the owners of the club need to rethink their own strategy for next season, which is more than likely going to be in the Championship after relegation at the weekend.

Since the Hornets were promoted to the Premier League in 2015, they've lost all 11  meetings with the Blues. Perhaps relegation will provide at least one relief - not facing City next season.

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Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
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pakistan Test squad

Azhar Ali (capt), Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari

RESULT

Deportivo La Coruna 2 Barcelona 4
Deportivo:
Perez (39'), Colak (63')
Barcelona: Coutinho (6'), Messi (37', 81', 84')

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Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Power: 154bhp

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MATCH INFO

World Cup qualifier

Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')

UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')

Electoral College Victory

Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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The National photo project

Chris Whiteoak, a photographer at The National, spent months taking some of Jacqui Allan's props around the UAE, positioning them perfectly in front of some of the country's most recognisable landmarks. He placed a pirate on Kite Beach, in front of the Burj Al Arab, the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland at the Burj Khalifa, and brought one of Allan's snails (Freddie, which represents her grandfather) to the Dubai Frame. In Abu Dhabi, a dinosaur went to Al Ain's Jebel Hafeet. And a flamingo was taken all the way to the Hatta Mountains. This special project suitably brings to life the quirky nature of Allan's prop shop (and Allan herself!).

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
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Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners