They won comfortably enough in the end. And beautifully enough, too. Manchester City almost always win beautifully. Raheem Sterling’s second goal in the 3-1 victory over Watford was a tap-in after a typical piece of majestic play from David Silva. His third was a virtuoso’s dance through a packed defence a delicate finish that deceived Ben Foster. But over all the beauty lay a shadow.
With City mired in controversy over allegations about attempts to circumvent Financial Fair Play and other practices that have encouraged an alphabet soup of football authorities to open investigations into them, that was inevitable before this game kicked off.
In the circumstances, the last thing City needed was another fierce inquest, this time over something that happened on the pitch, but that is what they got. When they are locked in a title race with Liverpool that is so close that every point and every goal is vitally important, it was also inevitable that their first goal should invite fierce scrutiny.
Raheem Sterling took a David Silva pass inside the box, then he cut inside before clipping the ball home for his hat-trick
Manchester City were struggling to find the breakthrough in the first half which ended goalless but dominated the second
Sterling's third effort of the evening was a stunning solo goal in which he weaved in and out of the Watford defence
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Zinchenko, Bernardo Silva, Gundogan, Silva, Mahrez, Aguero, Sterling.
Subs: Danilo, Laporte, Delph, Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Foden, Muric.
Goals: Sterling 46, 50, 59
Watford: Foster, Janmaat, Britos, Kabasele, Masina, Capoue, Doucoure, Femenia, Cleverley, Gray, Success.
Subs: Gomes, Deulofeu, Deeney, Sema, Cathcart, Quina, Holebas.
Goals: Deulofeu 66
Referee: Paul Tierney
Highly controversial start to the second half as Raheem Sterling has the ball in the net and it is initially ruled out for offside before being overturned. CLICK HERE to see more from Sportsmail's MATCH ZONE.
It seemed straightforward enough. City, who went four points clear of Jurgen Klopp’s side with this win, and their fans had begun to grow frustrated at the stalemate developing in front of them when Sergio Aguero ran on to a through ball in the first minute of the second half and miscontrolled it. It rolled to Sterling, who was in an offside position.
Sterling challenged for the ball but before he could touch it, Watford defender Daryl Janmaat tried to clear it and it rebounded off Sterling and looped over Ben Foster into the net. The linesman on the far side flagged for offside. It looked like the correct decision even though Sterling mouthed ‘no way, no way’ as he realised the flag was up.
The laws of the game state that a player is active if he is challenging for the ball, which Sterling was. But the offside law has become stuck in confusion. The awarding of a penalty to Harry Kane in the North London derby recently, when he appeared to be offside, provoked a discussion with no clear outcome.
And now, with so much on the line, there was more uncertainty. For some reason, the referee, Paul Tierney, ran over to his assistant to discuss his decision. The two men talked for three minutes, trying to keep worried Watford players at bay. Eventually, Mr Tierney decided the goal should stand. He pointed to the centre circle and launched a thousand more unwanted and unneeded conspiracy theories.
City would probably have won the game anyway. They were the dominant side. Watford, who had made seven changes from their last match, were offering very little. But who knows? When a title race is this tight, the least that clubs and fans should expect is some clarity in decisions. It is not fair on City, either. Their football remains a delight but off the pitch, their problems are mounting.
Watford made a double substitution and Ben Foster's long ball was headed on by Troy Deeney, who replaced Issac Success
And tapping home past Ederson was Gerard Deulofeu who came on for Kiko Femenia to give the Hornets some hope
There is an awkward symmetry about the fact that as they chase an unprecedented four trophies this season so they face an unprecedented four investigations about their financial dealings.
There were suggestions yesterday that American-owned Premier League clubs, whose proprietors are used to strict financial regulations in US sports, have been particularly keen to prod the Premier League into investigating allegations of malpractice against City.
A grand slam of football authorities – Fifa, Uefa, the Premier League and the Football Association – are now probing City’s financial dealings in a variety of areas.
The headline issue is their alleged manipulation of sponsorship income to try to circumvent Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations but there are also questions about City’s acquisition of youth players, use of third-party ownership and questionable accounting over players’ image rights.
Their football has a habit of washing away bad headlines but they struggled to break Watford down. Watford started with a pragmatic selection, resting Gerard Deulofeu and Troy Deeney, saving them for a day when they
