Man City vs Watford: Gabriel Jesus scores 4; champs go 4 points clear

Man City vs Watford: The defending Premier League champions hit a new gear in the sprint to the 2021-22 title, as they hammered the Hornets 5-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

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Gabriel Jesus bagged four goals on the day, more than doubling his Premier League tally this season (more on that, and him, in a moment). Rodri added the other for Manchester City (80 points), who now sit four points clear of Liverpool (76 points) ahead of Sunday’s Merseyside derby (WATCH HERE).

Final score: Man City 5, Watford 1

Goal scorers: Man City (Jesus 4′, 23′, 49′, 53′, Rodri 34′), Watford (Kamara 28′)

Shots: Man City 18, Watford 5

Shots on target: Man City 8, Watford 2

Possession: Man City 74%, Watford 26%

1. A wild striker emerges from the bushes: When Sergio Aguero left the club last summer, Manchester City pursued Harry Kane (to the tune of $140 million), but to no avail. Pep Guardiola has preferred a false-nine over Gabriel Jesus playing center forward most of the time, even pushing the Brazilian out to the wings when he is selected. 32 games into the season, Jesus had returned all of three Premier League goals, but he has scored big goals in big games (in a 1-0 win over Chelsea in September, and the 2-2 draw with Liverpool two weeks ago). At this point of the season, every game is big and every goal even bigger. Man City found lots of early joy out wide against Watford, and it had to be Jesus, the lone “natural” striker in the squad, to make the runs and finish a pair of first-half crosses (before adding two more in the second half). If he’s only just now hitting a purple patch (5 goals, 1 assist in his last three starts), a few more timely goals could be the last piece of the Premier League and