Bernardo Silva cracks hat-trick as City bounce back from Norwich horror show to smash hopeless Watford
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BERNARDO SILVA banged a hat-trick as record-breaking Manchester City smashed Watford 8-0 at the Etihad.
It was the perfect response from Pep Guardiola's troops following their shock 3-2 loss at Norwich last weekend.
And the ball started rolling with less than a minute on the clock when David Silva pinged the ball Ben Foster in the visitors' goal.
Fast-forward just 17 minutes and the Premier League were 5-0 up, and setting a new record to boot.
David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva and Nicolas Otamendi were the players to fire past poor Ben Foster in the away goal.
Blackburn Rovers held the previous record of scoring five goals in 24 minutes when they beat Sheffield Wednesday in 1997.
CITY ARE RECORD-BREAKERS
Arsenal rattled up that number of goals in 26 minutes in 2003 against Southampton, while the Saints were also on the wrong end against Everton in 1996 after just 35 minutes.
Only three teams have EVER been five goals to the good up at half time.
These were Sheffield Wednesday 5-0 up at home to Bolton in 1997, with Man City 6-1 up against Burnley in 2010 and Liverpool up by the same score against Stoke in 2015.
City went in at the break five goals to the good - and showed in the second half they weren't prepared to settle for just that.
FIRST TREBLE FOR BERNARDO
Bernardo Silva scored another two to complete his hat-trick and then Belgian magician Kevin De Bruyne fired home number eight.
The game also marked Aguero's 100th Premier League goal at the Etihad on a day of ultimate celebration even before half-time.
Aguero became only one of three player's in the competition's history to net 100-plus goals at a single venue.
Thierry Henry with 114 at Highbury and Wayne Rooney with 101 at Old Trafford are the other two.
Speaking after netting the first hat-trick of his career, Bernardo Silva said: "It was a great performance, 8-0 says everything.
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"It's very good to get the three points after defeat at Norwich and I'm very happy with my first hat-trick of my career. My first match ball at home.
";All teams have good and bad moments, the way you react to the bad is the most important thing.
"Once again this team showed we want to fight for the Premier League and all the titles."
More to follow...