Pep Guardiola said the lack of a "specialist" goalscorer had stopped his team from scoring a bagful at Watford - but he was not about to criticise Jack Grealish.
The £100million summer buy missed four good chances as Manchester City dominated the Hornets in the first half, after being handed the "false nine" role as the Blues continue to make the most of a squad with no real striker.
Grealish planted a free header straight at keeper Daniel Bachmann, shot too close to the stopper from a Phil Foden tee-up and was wasteful with two more opportunities as City swarmed all over the home side.
Grealish has scored just twice since his British record transfer from Aston Villa in the summer, when the Blues also failed to land prime target Harry
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk