With a four-man defence and nobody playing out of position, City saw out the simplest of wins in a fashion not seen at the Etihad this season. Watford were the fourth Etihad visitors out of the last five to arrive with approaching zero ambition and so another frustrating draw was not out of the question for the hosts, but patience and precision brought reward.
Positives
The speed of movement, both in legs and heads, had clearly been increased from the weekend soft-shoe shuffle at Leicester, where a sleep-walking side was easily turned over. With Yaya Toure shielding an underworked defence and Claudio Bravo practically unemployed, City restricted the visitors to just one dangerous effort on goal.