Man City were at their ruthless and clinical best on Saturday as they ran riot against Watford at the Etihad with five early goals.
David Silva gave the hosts the lead in the first minute, and that ultimately set the tone for what was to come with Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva and Nicolas Otamendi all getting on the scoresheet too.
SEE MORE: Video: World-class assist from De Bruyne helps David Silva break deadlock for Man City
Especially after their disappointing defeat to Norwich City last weekend, it was exactly the type of response that Pep Guardiola will have wanted to see from his players and they didn’t disappoint.
As seen in the tweet below, their goalscoring exploits also saw them make Premier League history as their five goals in the opening 18 minutes of the game was the fastest time a side has gone 5-0 up in the history of the English top flight.
Manchester City's five goals after 18 minutes is the fastest any side has ever gone 5-0 ahead in Premier League history. pic.twitter.com/0vWAu5i3nO
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 21, 2019
It was a brutally brilliant start to the game, and it will certainly send a message to rivals Liverpool ahead of their clash with Chelsea on Sunday that the recent injury crisis at the Etihad can be overcome.
Question marks have been raised over Man City after they suffered injury blows to Aymeric Laporte and John Stones, which in turn could leave them vulnerable at the back.
However, if they continue to show such quality and a prolific edge in the final third, it seems as though many teams will struggle to cope with them and will be prevented from even having a chance of testing out that makeshift backline.