The 2019 FA Cup final was an association football match between Manchester City and Watford on 18 May 2019 at Wembley Stadium in London, England and the 138th FA Cup final. It was Manchester City's first FA Cup final appearance since 2013 and Watford's second since 1984.
Kevin Friend was the referee for the match played in front of 85,854 spectators. Manchester City dominated the early stages of the final. In the 21st minute, Abdoulaye Doucouré's shot struck Vincent Kompany's arm in the Manchester City penalty area but after consultation with the video assistant referee (VAR), Friend declined to award a penalty and showed Doucouré the first yellow card of the game for his subsequent protests. In the 26th minute the deadlock was broken, as David Silva scored from a Raheem Sterling header. Twelve minutes later Manchester City doubled their lead after Gabriel Jesus side-footed the ball past Kiko Femenía and Heurelho Gomes in the Watford goal. On 61 minutes City further extended their lead to 3–0 with a goal from substitute Kevin De Bruyne from close range. Seven minutes later, Jesus made it 4–0 after taking the ball on the counter-attack and shooting past Gomes. In the 81st minute, Sterling scored from a Bernardo Silva cross to make it 5–0, before scoring again in the 87th minute after his initial shot was pushed onto the post by Gomes. The match ended 6–0 to Manchester City: it was only the third time that a team has scored six goals in an FA Cup final and the margin of victory is the joint-largest in an FA Cup final, equalling Bury's 6–0 win over Derby County in 1903.
De Bruyne was named man of the match. The win completed a domestic treble for Manchester City, who had already won the League Cup and the Premier League that season, which at the time was unprecedented by any English men's team. As they had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League, City's continental qualification place for winning the FA Cup went to the team that finished seventh in the league (Wolverhampton Wanderers), who entered the second qualifying round of UEFA Europa League.
Route to the final
Manchester City
As a Premier League club, Manchester City started in the third round where they were drawn against Championship team Rotherham United at the City of Manchester Stadium. In what Neil Johnston of the BBC described as a "powerful attacking performance", City dominated their opponents and won 7–0, with goals from Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, an own goal from Semi Ajayi, Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez, Nicolás Otamendi, and Leroy Sané. It was Rotherham's heaviest ever FA Cup defeat, but their manager Paul Warne was philosophical: "It was a difficult day but we were playing against a world-class team. I don't think we embarrassed ourselves". In the fourth round, City were drawn at home once again, this time against fellow Premier League team Burnley. In a display which Burnley manager Sean Dyche called "clinical", City won 5–0 with goals from Jesus, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Agüero and an own goal from Kevin Long.
In the fifth round, City played League Two side Newport County away at Rodney Parade in Newport, Wales. Once again, City dominated their opponents, and although the first half ended goalless, they won 4–1 courtesy of two goals from Foden, and one each from Sané and Mahrez, with Pádraig Amond scoring the consolation for Newport. In the quarter-finals, City drew Championship team Swansea City. Played at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea were 2–0 ahead at half time, but a goal from Silva and an own goal from Kristoffer Nordfeldt were followed by a controversial late winner from Agüero. Video replays demonstrated that the striker was offside but as the video assistant referee (VAR) system was not in use at the Liberty Stadium, the goal was allowed to stand, and the Manchester club progressed with a 3–2 victory. In the semi-final, played at Wembley Stadium as a neutral venue, Manchester City faced Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion. City progressed to the final after a 1–0 win with a Jesus goal from a De Bruyne cross in the fourth minute.