Saturday’s FA Cup tie looked to be a sure thing for Manchester City. The side, currently second place in the Premier League, were hosting Watford, sixteenth in the Championship. The Etihad has been a fortress this season, with the Citizens yet to drop points at home. What was there to worry about?
With dreams of a quadruple dancing in front of his eyes, Manuel Pellegrini put out a strong squad, with Sergio Agüero and Edin Džeko up top and Yaya Toure in midfield. Only the defense, missing Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta, as well as Joe Hart in goal, looked weaker than average.
Not a minor detail, it turned out. Watford had a 2-0 lead by the time thirty minutes were out, with Fernando Forestieri and Troy Deeney scoring two within ten minutes. As the minutes ticked by, it looked as though City’s hopes of collecting four trophies this season were about to come to an end.
Kun Agüero started the City comeback in the 60th minute, getting on the end of a cross from Aleksandar Kolarov. With ten minutes left to play, the Argentine had leveled the scoreline. It was Kolarov that scored the winner, a shot from distance that wiggled under Watford keeper Jonathan Bond, but Agüero added another in injury time to ensure Manchester City would progress to the next round.