Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores admitted holding Manchester City was always likely to prove difficult for his side after the Hornets' 2-0 defeat on Saturday.
Flores' men entered half-time at the Etihad without conceding, but their resistance was broken two minutes into the second half as Raheem Sterling scored his first goal for his new club.
Fernandinho doubled the lead as the Premier League leaders finally broke the resistance of the spirited Hornets.
City have made a flying start to the season, winning their first four games without conceding a goal, and Flores said holding off the pressure for 90 minutes was always going to be difficult.
"I think we played well in the first half in defensive terms but it was difficult to resist City for the full match," Flores said. "It was very difficult to play against this kind of opponent.
"They have a lot of velocity in the transition, they have a lot of quality in the pass, they are physically strong.
"For the future we will learn from this kind of experience. It is very difficult to play against City in these conditions."
Defeat was Watford's first of the season after three successive draw, but midfielder Valon Behrami told the club's website he believes the newly promoted side can take some positives from the result.
"It's very hard because every single possession of the ball they have you have to be focused 100 percent," the Swiss international said.
"You cannot do any mistake, and when you do one little mistake you pay against this kind of team, so we're going to have to learn to play against this level of team.
"I think we had some good moments where we kept the ball with personality and that's good for us, but of course now the pressure is higher because we need some good points, not just a good game.
"We have a lot of time to work while some people are with their national teams, so we will just have to be focused for the next game, but I'm still positive and still see good players on the pitch, so I'm confident for the rest of the season."