Manchester City have secured a place in next season’s Champions League group stage draw after a successful 4-2 win at Swansea City’s Liberty Stadium on Sunday, although it wasn’t as easy as some might have hoped. The Blues took a 2-0 lead before losing it to The Swans, but were able to regain it by full-time, capping off the game with a goal from former Swansea striker Wilfried Bony.
Manuel Pellegrini fielded an extremely similar team to last week’s demolition of Queens Park Rangers, with the only change to the starting lineup coming in the form of Yaya Toure, relegated to the bench last week due to fitness issues, who replaced Fernando alongside Fernandinho in the centre of midfield. Fernando was completely absent from the squad, replaced by Stevan Jovetic who took his place on the bench.
Swansea had the better of the opening minutes, with Bafetimbi Gomis, fresh from scoring a late winner at The Emirates on Monday night, missing two chances. The first happened when Martin Demichelis gave away the ball just inside City’s half, from which Gomis was eventually able to launch a shot from range which was saved comfortably by Hart. A little later, Swansea cut in from the left wing, with the ball soon being played to Gomis a little to the left of the goal, in the six-yard box. Fortunately for The Blues, he scuffed his shot when it could have been much worse. The closest City came in the opening stages was a free-kick from Kolarov, which sailed a foot wide of Lukasz Fabianski’s goal.
The Blues had the ball in the net on 18 minutes, thanks to the star man for the last few games: Sergio Aguero. On the counter-attack, Sergio made a superb run through the defence, receiving the ball from a fantastic pass to him. From there, it was only a matter of a simple finish, which he managed. However, the flag went up almost as soon as the Argentine got the ball, and while in real-time it looked like he’d managed to stay onside, the call was probably the right one against the striker, as much as he would have liked to extend his tally for the season.
Thankfully, the disallowed goal didn’t have too much effect on City, with the visitors taking the lead just three minutes later. Silva gave the ball to Yaya Toure, who took a couple of touches before unleashing a shot from the edge of the box. On most days, the shot would probably have been saved easily, but thanks to a wicked deflection from Ashley Williams, the ball fooled Fabianski who couldn’t keep the shot out, despite getting a hand to it. The goal now brings Yaya’s Premier League total to 50 for The Blues, a milestone which he’ll be proud to reach, even if he is destined to leave in the summer.
City then doubled their lead on 36 minutes, again on the counter. From a corner, Frank Lampard was able to unleash Sergio Aguero who was lingering 40 yards from the City goal. The Argentina international won the ball ahead of Jazz Richards, before playing it to James Milner who was making up the ground fast. The midfielder challenged Neil Taylor for the ball, before getting around the former City trainee Taylor, after which Milner almost passed the ball past Fabianski to give the away side a healthy 2-0 lead.
Unfortunately for City, Swansea managed to half the deficit going into half-time, thanks to Gylfi Sigurdsson. The Icelander received the ball on the edge of the City box, and wasted no time in sending a brilliant curling shot into the bottom corner, leaving Hart with no chance. City tried to restore their two-goal advantage before Mark Clattenburg blew his whistle, but Aguero’s header went over the bar and never really looked threatening.
City were able to hold out for almost 20 minutes of the second half, but the challenge of Swansea City proved too much on 65 minutes. Jazz Richards played a long ball to Gomis, who made a good run between Mangala and Demichelis, with neither defender tracking the French striker. The former Lyon player picked up the ball, before turning quickly and firing a shot at the far post which went underneath the diving leg of Demichelis, before finding its way into the net to level the score at 2-2.
Fortunately, travelling Blues only had to wait until 74 minutes to see their team regain their lead, again from Yaya Toure. The Ivorian picked the ball up some distance from goal, before embarking on a short but powerful run of the type we haven’t seen enough of this season, which left him at the edge of the box. He rifled a shot past Fabianski which possibly could have been kept out by the Pole, but thankfully for City the former Arsenal keeper was once again foiled by the shot from Yaya, and The Blues were back in control.
Their lead could have been in peril again on 82 minutes, when a corner came in from the right. Fernandez was unmarked after being left by Mangala, and the Argentine defender got up well to head at goal. Then, in spectacular fashion, Hart dove to his left and tipped the ball over the top with what must surely be one of the saves of the season. Not only the speed with which he needed to reach it, but to be able to put the ball over the bar from so close to the line, it required an immense amount of skill. Hart was called into action again moments later, when Gomis headed at goal from close range, but the save was relatively comfortable for City’s undisputed number one.
City then went on to confirm the three points on 92 minutes, thanks to former Swansea star Wilfried Bony, on as a substitute at his former stomping ground. The Ivorian striker had scored several goals for Swansea against City, but this time it was the other way round. He picked up the ball just outside the box, and took a soft but accurate shot which hit the left post, before rolling across the goal and just about crossing the line to give Bony his second City goal. Out of loyalty to Garry Monk and his former club, City’s latest signing didn’t celebrate, but will be happy to have scored his first goal in a few games.
Not long after, Mark Clattenburg blew his whistle on a mixed but ultimately pleasing victory for City. It now puts them in prime position to claim second place in the league, with six points between them and Arsenal (who have two games in hand at the time of writing). Coming back from two goals down only to go on to lose might be disappointing for Swansea, but they can take encouragement from the fact they managed to hold their own against City. While Sunday’s result was a good one for Manuel Pellegrini, some will be wondering where this Manchester City side has been all season.
Have a listen to Joe Hart, as he talks after the game.
