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May 20, 2019

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England’s best ever as historic City seals treble

Source: AFP | 00:05 UTC+8 May 20, 2019 | Print Edition

Manchester City’s treble winners have been hailed as English football’s greatest-ever team after their FA Cup final demolition of Watford completed an historic campaign.

Pep Guardiola’s side became the first English club to win the English Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup in the same season thanks to its swaggering 6-0 success at Wembley on Saturday.

Equalling the record margin of victory for an FA Cup final was the perfect way to cap a remarkable year for City, which followed its record-breaking EPL triumph in 2017-18 with an even more astonishing run this term.

It is the first English top-flight side to register 50 wins in all competitions in a single season.

Guardiola’s men also scored a record 169 goals in 61 games this season, beating their own previous best of 156.

City now ranks high on the list of the greatest English teams of all time.

Only a select few can claim to be on a par with City, an elite group that includes Arsenal’s 2004 “Invincibles,” Manchester United’s 1999 vintage, which won the EPL, UEFA Champions League and FA Cup, and the Liverpool team of 1984, which lifted the old First Division, the European Cup and the League Cup.

The world’s media were united in their praise for Guardiola’s men, who have won five of the last six domestic trophies.

BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty wrote: “The club once loftily dismissed as ‘noisy neighbors’ by then-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed they now exert a domestic dominance that speaks eloquently on their behalf with a crushing, brutal 6-0 dismissal of Watford.

“This may have been a victory lap completed with embarrassing ease, with early Watford body blows parried in comfort before a form of footballing torture ensued, but this was arguably the greatest day in City’s history as this treble was won ruthlessly, spectacularly.”

Eurosport labeled City as the country’s greatest ever: “They may not have won the Champions League but the cold hard facts don’t lie: Manchester City are the best team to ever grace English football.”

The Guardian’s Barney Ronay summed up City’s majestic form over the last year.

“Manchester City’s historic FA Cup final win was almost swamped by the glowing list of statistics piling up around them — but nothing can disguise the scale of this achievement and the brilliance of Pep Guardiola’s team,” he wrote.

“English domestic football has never seen anything quite like this single-season hit from Manchester City. It turns out we really do all live in a sky blue world now.”

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