LONDON • With his team leading 5-0 after 18 minutes and threatening Premier League scoring records, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola sat with his arms folded in his dugout and might even have looked a little guilty.

With a 6-0 pummelling in the FA Cup in May and a 6-0 thrashing at Vicarage Road the season before, it is no surprise Watford are "scared to play" City.

The English champions ended up romping to an 8-0 win on Saturday, falling just short of the heaviest margin of victory in the Premier League era - Manchester United's 9-0 win over Ipswich in 1995 - and Hornets goalkeeper Ben Foster hailed Guardiola's men as "without doubt the best team I have ever played against".

"If you let in five in 20 minutes, you fear the worst. You think cricket scores," he said after the club's heaviest league loss in its 138-year history.

"We were poor, didn't lay a glove on them, but, at times, it was breathtaking watching them."

Bernardo Silva nabbed his first career hat-trick and there were also goals for David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez, Nicolas Otamendi and Kevin de Bruyne at the Etihad.

Guardiola was, however, more pleased that his team did not ease off as he saluted his players' "ruthless" streak, continuing their impressive response following their shock 3-2 league loss at Norwich.

Coming three days after a comfortable 3-0 Champions League opening away win over Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk, the Spaniard said: "What I like the most is normally when it's 5-0 at half-time, the second half is not serious, it's boring.

"But we did the opposite and we were more aggressive and made a very good second half."

"People still don't understand, journalists, pundits, former players, losing games is part of life. Opponents always deserve respect.

"The same feeling I have now, I had after Norwich so it was not a bad performance. We can lose the games, but the important thing is the approach and the way you react as a team."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS