Manchester City continued their glorious run of form under new manager Pep Guardiola with a hard fought victory over Swansea at the Liberty Stadium. With both sides fielding a second string squad owing to the league tie on Saturday, the game got off on a weaker foot.
However, after numerous near hits and misses, it was City who opened the scoring via a Gael Clichy goal in the 49th minute. When the 19-year-old Aleix Garcia doubled City’s lead in the 67th minute, the game looked all but over.
However, there was some very late drama as Gylfi Sigurdsson slipped the ball past Willy Caballero in the 94th minute to hand his just a ray of hope. The game finished 2-1 in the favour of the visitors Manchester City and we bring to you the five talking points from the game at the Liberty Stadium.
#1 Manchester City’s imperious form continues
The Manchester club, who are yet to lose a game so far this season, continued their unbeaten run to nine successive games across all competitions under their new manager Pep Guardiola. Given the quality of players, the depth in the squad as well as the reputation of its managers, which have resulted in imperious displays of football on the pitch, the club is already establishing itself as an early contender for a number of titles on offer.
While the side is playing some really beautiful football, it is their ability to eke out crucial results away from home, such as against Manchester United, that adds to the credentials of the side. The game against Swansea was no walk in the park for City and the team was stretched on numerous occasions by the industrious Welsh side.
However, the away side did not buckle under pressure and showed to the footballing world why it deserves a mention amongst the most dreaded units in the world, courtesy of a team filled with fringe players.
#2 Willy Caballero made Claudio Bravo look like Messi
One position that has come under immense scrutiny since the arrival of Guardiola is that of the side’s goalkeeper. The departure of Joe Hart on loan to Torino was followed with Claudio Bravo’s blunder against Manchester United and going by his performance in the game against Swansea, it seems like Caballero wasn’t able to shake off the curse that has been associated with being a Manchester City keeper.
He had a torrid time in possession as he gave the ball away cheaply on numerous occasions, even presenting Borja Baston with a golden opportunity to score, which the Spaniard missed. While he did compensate for his inefficiencies as a sweeper keeper, he did make some crucial saves to ensure that his side progressed to the next round.
It is an established fact that Guardiola loves a goalkeeper who is comfortable in possession of the ball and is efficient with his distribution, traits which the Argentine failed to demonstrate and we expect the goalkeeper to have yet another season where he makes appearances in bits and pieces.
#3 Manchester City need to sort out their defence
The arrival of John Stones was expected to add to the defensive muscle of the side. Despite his reputation as a rock solid defender, the Englishman also has erratic traits that often surface to hurt his credentials as the best young centre-back in Europe. It also remains to be seen how Pep will sort out the defensive headache that could trouble his side in the long run.
With the goalkeeping department being deemed shaky already, the Spanish manager could be forced to completely drop the idea of playing out from the back.
The side was stretched by Swansea through the game as they found pockets of space to function into the midfield and were constantly probing the wings as City’s adventurous full backs vacated space for them to move into.
The Swans made some very good movement on and off the ball and kept the centre-back pairing of Vincent Kompany and Stones busy for large durations of the game. If not for some instinctive saves by Caballero, the side could have even gone on to lose the game and it should seek to balance it’s footballing philosophy to ensure silverware.
#4 Manchester City missed Fernandinho
Fernandinho has already established himself as a key player under Pep and the game against Swansea served as a reminder of what he brings to the side. While Fernando Reges did the dirty work that was required of him in the middle of the park, he could not maintain a balanced approach to the game, unlike Fernandinho and the side failed to truly get it going against Swansea, who constantly haggled the city midfield.
Swansea constantly broke City’s midfield play and were able to recover a number of loose balls and launched into numerous offensives during the course of the game. With Fernandinho anchoring the side, we believe City could have had better control over the game.
The Brazilian midfielder brings the lucidity to the side with his passing as well as movement, which the attackers tend to feed upon. While the traits have not developed all of a sudden under a new manager, they definitely have come to the forefront under Pep and it has led to him being touted to be the most important player in the city midfield by many.
Pep was prudent to afford him some much-needed rest ahead of a busy schedule and the Brazilian will be keen to continue with his good form for the rest of the season to come.
#5 The gulf between the two teams was evident
While Swansea themselves fielded a fringe unit, probably to rest their main players ahead of the crucial home tie in the league against City, the gulf in terms of quality was evident. Despite City fielding a side that had a number of fringe players themselves, they were head and shoulders above their compatriots from Wales.
Given that the Manchester side is in a number of competitions, it serves the club’s interest well to have the required depth in their squad and given the performances of some of the so called fringe players at the club, there is no reason to worry for the club’s supporters in this segment. The second string side fielded by Guardiola was easily better than a number of teams that are dished out week after week in the league.
The biggest positive of the night for the club could be the performances of youngster Angelino and Aleix Garcia. Given the investment made by the club in the infrastructure for the development of its young players, it would be a fantastic achievement if some of these youngsters break into the first team under Pep.
