Manchester City started their title celebrations in formidable fashion as they decimated a beleaguered Swansea City side in a 5-0 demolition at the Etihad Stadium.
After last week’s redemption result against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley and Manchester United’s embarrassing defeat to bottom side West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford, City were crowned champions of England for the third time, equalling Arsenal’s tally of Premier League crowns under Arsene Wenger.
With an effort to ensure that City’s players did not drop their level of form towards the end of the campaign, Pep Guardiola has rallied his team together to get them to achieve the records that are still up for grabs. Today’s result against the Swans will only worry City’s rivals going into next season.
After just 12 minutes, Raheem Sterling had cut the ball back to David Silva for the opening goal of the match, before the Englishman slotted home a fantastic Fabian Delph cross to make it 2-0. After half-time, Kevin De Bruyne scored one of the goals of the season with a vicious strike from 25 yards to make it 3-0. Just after the hour mark, the Citizens were awarded a penalty after Federico Fernandez was adjudged to have gone in late on Sterling. Gabriel Jesus missed the resulting penalty, but Bernardo Silva was on hand to slot in the rebound for the fourth goal of the match. The game was ultimately sealed with two minutes of normal time remaining, as Gabriel Jesus redeemed himself with an great diving header from a delightful Yaya Toure lobbed pass.
This win puts City 16 points clear of Manchester United, once again, and takes them a step closer to more records being broken.
Here are our player ratings from the match.
Ederson - 6
Had barely anything to do in the game as Swansea spent most of the game stuck in their own half. When Alfie Mawson had an opportunity to give the Swans a goal, the Brazilian stepped up to to keep out the Englishman’s shot.
Danilo - 8
Brilliant performance from the Brazilian as his positive energy and slalom running caused problems for the compact Swansea defence. Despite a shaky start to the season, he has excelled for City and looks a shrewd signing for a back-up.
Vincent Kompany - 8
Gave the Swansea attack no chance of breaking through as his positional awareness and physicality came out on top. His range of passing was a sight to behold.
Aymeric Laporte - 7
Laporte is getting better and better with the more game time he gets in this impeccable team. Like Kompany, his passing is immaculate and his positional awareness is top draw. He will be one to watch for next season.
Fabian Delph - 9
Delph showed everyone why he has been one of the best left-backs in the Premier League this season, and he’s not even a proper left-back! Great cross for Sterling’s goal before he came off to a standing ovation in place of the returning Benjamin Mendy.
Kevin De Bruyne - 9
Wow. What a goal that was. De Bruyne brought a whole new meaning to the saying ‘foot like a traction engine’ when he hit that shot. He showed exactly why he should be Player of the Year over Mohamed Salah, with his goals and assists firing City to the title.
Ilkay Gundogan - 9
Fabulous performance from the German, with some brilliant trickery to coincide with his dominance in the midfield alongside his midfield compatriots De Bruyne and David Silva.
David Silva - 9
Scored the first goal and assisted the second goal as the Spaniard made his presence known to the opposition. His ability on the ball is something that not many players can emulate, with some brilliant passing and dribbling to help his side consolidate their dominance.
Bernardo Silva - 9
Great reaction to Gabriel Jesus’ missed penalty to slot home for the fourth goal and it was well deserved. He was fantastic once again on the right, cutting inside and looking to supply a team-mate when possible.
Gabriel Jesus - 8
Worked tirelessly and was unlucky not to score until he redeemed himself for a missed penalty with a brilliant diving header.
Raheem Sterling - 9
Sterling was in the right place at the right time to score his 23rd goal of the season in all competitions, as well as providing the assist for David Silva’s opening goal and earning the penalty for the fourth goal. Fantastic performance from the Englishman.
Substitutions
Yaya Toure (for De Bruyne 65) – Put in a terrific performance – 8
Phil Foden (for Sterling 71) – Great run and cross near the end of the game – 7
Benjamin Mendy (for Delph 75) – Showed some post-injury rust, which will go away with more game time – 6