Manchester City 3 Watford 0: match report With injuries hitting his squad hard, combined with the loss of Yaya and Kolo Toure and youngster Abdul Razak to Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ivory Coast, Mancini, in truth, had little option but to wheel out the big guns against City's Championship opponents. Even Balotelli, wrestled by Mancini on the training ground on Thursday, found himself on the substitutes" bench after barely training recently due to a virus. But regardless of Mancini's selection motives, it was a wise move to go with strength and experience against Gianfranco Zola's lively team, whose recent rise to the play-off positions in the second tier underlined their ability to make life difficult for the champions. Watford, whose starting eleven was bolstered by six loan players - four of them from Italian outfit Udinese - were organised and put City on the back foot in the early stages with the pace and trickery of Matej Vydra and Fernando Forestieri. Their nimble footwork certainly caught out City midfielder Javi Garcia, who was booked by referee Phil Dowd following a series of late challenges before the home side quelled Watford's enthusiasm by taking the lead through Tevez. By that stage, Pablo Zabaleta had gone close with a volley which was well saved by goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, while Edin Dzeko was denied a 21st minute opener after guiding Vincent Kompany's wayward shot into the net from an offside position. Tevez claimed his ninth goal of the season on 24 minutes, however, with arguably his best strike of the campaign. The Argentine, who had not scored since the Premier League draw at home to Everton on Dec 1, beat Bond with a searing free-kick from 25 yards after being fouled by Watford captain John Eustace. Not for the first time this season, a wall set up to defend against a free-kick failed to do its job with Watford's parting like the Red Sea as Tevez's shot whistled through the gap. Watford almost equalised within sixty seconds of Tevez's goal, however, when striker Fernando Forestieri - one of the Udinese quartet - sprung the City offside trap to bear down on goal. But faced with the giant frame of the 6ft 7ins "keeper Pantilimon, Forestieri fluffed his chance by shooting too close to the Romanian, who dived to his left to smother the ball. Had that one gone in, City may have faced a different challenge against a confident team on the hunt for a giant-killing. But it proved a costly miss for Watford when Barry doubled City's lead and made the game safe for Mancini's team after heading in James Milner's cross from six yards, two minutes before half-time. Watford attempted to claw their way back into the game early in the second-half, with Troy Deeney and Forestieri both causing problems for the City back-four, but the visitors could not find a way through. Equally, City struggled to convert their chances - Milner stubbed a shot wide from Tevez's pass before Tevez narrowly failed to convert Milner's cross at the far post. So with 21 minutes left to play, Mancini turned to Balotelli, prompting chants of "Fight, Fight, Fight!" from the Watford supporters, and introduced the Italian forward for his first appearance for a month. Almost immediately, Balotelli added a new dimension, stinging Bond's hands with a long range effort from 20 yards. A similar strike brought about the goal for Lopes which rounded off City's victory and, for once, capped a good day for the uncontrollable Italian.