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Manchester City piled on the misery on relegation-threatened Watford as they put four past the Hornets without reply. The defeat leaves the home side just three points from safety with a single game to go.
Besides, the heavy loss also impacts Watford's goal difference massively as it slumps to -37, the same as fellow strugglers Aston Villa and Bournemouth.
Meanwhile, visitors Manchester City continue to rack up points despite not chasing any team accolades. This game was no different in that regard. All the players are doing their best to prove that they deserve to play a significant part in Manchester City's upcoming Champions League endeavours.
Overall, it was the perfect response from Manchester City after falling to a painful defeat against Arsenal in the FA Cup semifinal as Watford happened to be on the receiving end of a fine performance from the Cityzens.
On that note, here are the talking points from the match.
Five talking points from Manchester City's 4-0 Premier League win at Watford:
#5: Watford in troubled waters
Although Watford remain three points above the drop zone, the mood around Vicarage Road is rather gloomy heading into the final day of the Premier League season.
Aston Villa will visit West Ham and Bournemouth travel to Everton on the final day, while Watford have the toughest task among the three - an encounter against high-flying Arsenal at the Emirates Arena.
Moreover, the lack of an actual manager puts Watford in an extremely uncomfortable position, and they might just have to rely on results elsewhere to secure their Premier League status for next season.
If Watford's penultimate game against Manchester City is anything to go by, they will likely struggle against Arsenal. While the players showed plenty of commitment and worked very hard throughout the 90 minutes, the attacking quality needed to win games was nowhere to be seen.
#4: Raheem Sterling is a legitimate superstar
People are always entitled to their opinions, especially when it comes to sport, but some statistics are beyond debate. One of them are the statistics that attempt to quantify the level of football Raheem Sterling has been playing of late. For a footballer who did not have a single goal or assist in all competitions in 2020 till the restart, his numbers are ridiculous.
Sterling has 29 goals in all competitions this season - a personal best. He has 19 in the Premier League and is in fourth spot in the top scorers' chart. His brace today defines the kind of goal-scorer he is when in form. His first portrayed the deadly shooter that he is and his second was an epitome of the opportunist in him.
He has all it takes to up his numbers from 30 goals a season to even 40. Regardless, Sterling is already a world-class player and deserves all the plaudits that come his way and more.
#3: Assist record still in Kevin de Bruyne's sight
The last few games have been frustrating for the brilliant Kevin de Bruyne who has been chasing Thierry Henry's single-season assist record for a while now. Lately, the chances he has created have been spurned by the Manchester City forwards, and one can't be blamed for feeling like yet another opportunity to break the record has gone begging.
However, thanks to Aymeric Laporte's well-timed header to score Manchester City's fourth, De Bruyne now moves on to 19 assists for the season - one behind Henry's 20.
With Manchester City's final game coming at home against already relegated Norwich, De Bruyne is well poised to equal Henry's record if not break it. Norwich have been the Premier League's worst defensive side by a comfortable distance, and De Bruyne will be raring to exploit the Canaries once again - possibly also wanting to avenge Manchester City's defeat in the reverse fixture.
#2: Golden Gloves in touching distance for Ederson
Continuing with the talk regarding individual accolades, we move on to Manchester City's unorthodox Brazilian shot-stopper, Ederson Moraes. There's certainly no shortage of critics when it comes to Ederson's goalkeeping. He has had a tumultuous phase midway through the season where he made one mistake too many, resulting in many of his fans turning against him.
However, those days are well and truly behind him now as he's been in fabulous form of late. The string of good goalkeeping accompanied with good defending has taken Manchester City's clean sheet tally for the season to 15. This means that if Manchester City manage to keep yet another clean-sheet in their final Premier League game of the season against Norwich, Ederson will win the Golden Glove.
Only Burnley's Nick Pope is level with him on 15 as we speak, while Liverpool's Alisson too could join the duo if he keeps a clean-sheet on the final day while the leading pair doesn't.
Clearly, there's a great chance for Ederson to win the prestigious award that evaded him back in 2017-18 when he also had a great shot at it.
#1: Watford have to throw caution out of the window
Watford cannot take the same approach in the game with Manchester City against Arsenal on the final day of the season and expect to come away with a result.
Their performance against Manchester City wasn't inspiring by any means, and they looked rather timid at times. That leaves them level on goal-difference with the two sidees below them and three points is all that separates Watford and a spot in the relegation zone. One can probably predict the Hornets to take a similar route when they visit the Emirates, but they will be better off changing it.
Watford have enough fire-power in their ranks to trouble the Arsenal defence. If they decide to sit back and absorb the pressure, they'll likely be overwhelmed at some point. Especially if Aston Villa or Bournemouth begin to lead elsewhere and that news reaches the ears of the Watford players, they'll be particularly nervy.
As a result, it is best advised that Watford take the game to the opposition instead of being conservative and hoping that other clubs bail them out. After all, even if they do go down, they would've gone down after putting up a real fight.
