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With his team leading 5-0 after 18 minutes and threatening Premier League scoring records , Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola sat with his arms folded in his dugout and might even have looked a little guilty.Whether it’s in the FA Cup final or just a run-of-the mill league game, Watford just does not know how to handle the most free-scoring team in England.City ended up romping to an 8-0 win on Saturday, falling just short of the heaviest margin of victory in the Premier League era (since 1992) — Manchester United’s 9-0 win over Ipswich in 1995.It came four months after City beat Watford 6-0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium to complete an unprecedented domestic treble last season. The previous season, Guardiola’s team won 6-0 at Watford’s Vicarage Road.“If you let five in in 20 minutes, you fear the worst. You think cricket scores,” Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster said after the club’s heaviest league loss in its 138-year history. “They are without doubt the best team I have ever played against. We were poor, didn’t lay a glove on them but at times it was breathtaking watching them.”Bernardo Silva scored his first professional hat trick and there were also goals for David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez , Nicolas Otamendi and Kevin De Bruyne at Etihad Stadium.Disappointingly for City’s fans or those hoping to see records tumble, City only scored once in the final half-hour of an embarrassingly one-sided match. It was the best goal of the match, though — a powerful drive from De Bruyne into the roof of the net.In the final minutes, City’s fans urged their team forward, even roaring “Shoot!” when goalkeeper Ederson had the ball.“What I like the most is normally when it’s 5-0 at halftime, the second half is not serious, it’s boring,” Guardiola said. “But we did the opposite and we were more aggressive and made a very good second half.”It was the perfect reaction from the champions to last weekend’s surprising 3-2 loss at Norwich, the first defeat of their title defense which had left them five points behind Liverpool.Consider this a warning to Liverpool , which visits Chelsea on Sunday.MARGINAL CALLSTottenham was on the good side of a tight VAR call in a 2-2 draw at Man City this season.Mauricio Pochettino’s team was on the receiving end of one in a 2-1 loss against Leicester on Saturday.Tottenham was ahead courtesy of a first-half strike by Harry Kane when Serge Aurier drove a deflected shot into the bottom corner, seemingly giving the visitors a 2-0 lead at King Power stadium.However, after a lengthy stoppage as the video assistant referee took a forensic look at whether Son Heung-min was offside by millimeters in the buildup, the goal was ruled out.In Leicester’s next attack, Ricardo Pereira scored with a deflected finish to make it 1-1 in the 69th minute and James Maddison completed Leicester’s comeback by scoring from outside the area in the 85th.“It’s what happens with VAR — you have to get your head round it,” Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said.Leicester moved up to third place, two points behind Man City.NORWICH SLUMPSWhile Man City was bouncing back from a shock loss, the team that inflicted it slumped to a miserable defeat of its own a week on.Norwich conceded two goals in the first half to striker Chris Wood and lost 2-0 at Burnley“We always knew this would be tougher than Manchester City,” Norwich defender Ben Godfrey said. “Burnley are tough to play against.”BLADES CUT DOWN EVERTONOne shot on target. Two goals. Three points for Sheffield United.They were the galling statistics Everton was staring at following a 2-0 loss at Goodison Park to a promoted club which hasn’t lost away since mid-January.“It was just a ridiculous game ,” Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder said. “That’s possibly the worst we’ve played all season.”Everton had a supposedly benign run of fixtures to start the season but has only come away with seven points from six games, with City visiting next week. Sheffield United has one point more.CARROLL RETURNSAndy Carroll came on for his first appearance for Newcastle in nearly nine years but couldn’t inspire the team to victory in a 0-0 home draw against Brighton.The 30-year-old striker, who rejoined Newcastle in August after spells with Liverpool and West Ham, entered to a huge ovation in the 82nd minute and made his presence felt in a bustling cameo performance at St. James’ Park. He had not played since February because of an ankle injury that required an operation. SÃO PAULO (AP) — For a match that didn’t mean much, there was a lot going on as Argentina defeated Chile 2-1 to finish third in the Copa América on Saturday.It ended with Lionel Messi being sent off and boycotting the medal ceremony to protest the refereeing.“We shouldn’t take part in this corruption,” an unusually outspoken Messi said. “There was lack of respect toward us during this Copa América. We could have done better, but they didn’t let us make it to the final. Corruption and the referees are not letting the fans enjoy football. This is ruining football.”Messi had already complained about the refereeing after Argentina’s loss to Brazil in the semifinals, hinting the result was expected because the hosts were allegedly in charge of South American soccer. He said he expected Brazil to win Sunday’s final against Peru, claiming it was already set up for the hosts’ victory.When asked if he didn’t fear being suspended for his comments , Messi said “the truth needed to be told.”CONMEBOL, South America’s soccer confederation, later released a statement condemning the “unacceptable” and “baseless accusations” that discredited the Copa América’s integrity.“In football, sometimes you lose and sometimes you win,” the statement said. “One of the fundamental pillars of fair play is to accept the results and the refereeing decisions with respect.”Messi was sent off after getting involved in an altercation in a tense third-place game between the rivals from the last two finals of the South American competition.Veteran Chile midfielder Gary Medel also was red carded after the first-half shoving match with Messi at the Arena Corinthians.Sergio Agüero and Paulo Dybala scored early for Argentina, and Arturo Vidal put Chile on the board with a second-half penalty kick.Chile had beaten Argentina in the final in 2015 and 2016, both times in penalty shootouts.It was a heated match from the start in São Paulo, with many hard fouls from both sides and altercations involving several players.None was bigger than the one sparked by the Messi-Medel confrontation that led to the red card for both players in the 37th minute.It started when Medel wasn’t happy that Messi came in from behind to try to gain possession. The Chilean turned around to confront the Argentine star, who didn’t back down. They started to bump into each other with their chests and shoulders and Paraguayan referee Mario Diaz de Vivar came in to immediately send both players off.“A yellow card should have been enough for both players ,” Messi said.Messi had also received a straight red card in his national team debut with Argentina in a friendly against Hungary in 2005.Argentina opened the scoring after Messi quickly took a free kick with a long through ball to Agüero, who went past goalkeeper Gabriel Arias before finding the net in the 12th minute. There was some complaint that the ball was rolling when Messi took the free kick that caught the Chilean defense by surprise.Dybala added to the lead with a shot from inside the area in the 22nd, and Vidal gave Chile hope of a recovery by converting a penalty awarded by video review in the 59th.Argentina is enduring a 26-year title drought with the senior team. Messi’s only title with Argentina was with the under-23 squad at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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