Manchester City continued their perfect start to the season under new manager Pep Guardiola with a 3-1 victory over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium, thanks to two goals from the returning Sergio Aguero and a late goal from Raheem Sterling.
Bravo had little to do with his hands, the only Swansea shot that was threatening was the unstoppable strike from Fernando Llorente. Bravo showed exactly why Pep was so eager to bring him in though, he was very composed on the ball and wasn’t afraid to boot it long when there was no easy short pass. Even when Bravo did boot it long, he often found a Manchester City player. After watching Caballero make mistakes with the ball at his feet mid-week, City fans would have felt much more confident with Bravo between the sticks.
The dependable 33 year old had an unusually eventful game. A good ball in from out wide found Sergio Aguero in the box for Aguero’s first goal but Sagna didn’t cover himself in glory for the Swans equaliser. The Frenchman was unlucky to slip at the wrong time, which allowed Llorente space to get off his shot. It is hard to lay too much blame at the feet of Sagna though, as he was just unlucky. Sagna was solid for the rest of the game, not making any major mistakes but not offering too much else going forward. He appears to be the first choice right back at the moment over Pablo Zabaleta.
This was another impressive game from the Argentine, who has been simply superb so far this season. Otamendi made an impressive 7 interceptions and was a rock at the back throughout the game. Otamendi lacks the passing ability of his partner John Stones but is good enough defensively to help Stones out in that regard. That is why this partnership works so well, Otamendi’s strength is in defending while Stones can focus more on moving the ball from defense to midfield and attack. Manchester City have finally found a partner for Vincent Kompany, in fact now they have two.
Although Stones is considered the perfect Guardiola central defender by many, there are still many areas of his game that need improving. Thankfully, the 22 year old has time on his side and has the perfect mentor in Pep Guardiola. This wasn’t one of Stones best performances of the season, he was caught out of position a couple of times and also gave the ball away sloppily. However, his composure on the ball and willingness to wait for the right pass to come available are crucial in the way this Manchester City side attacks.
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Kolarov seems to be one of the first names on the team sheet at the moment, whether he plays as a central defender or at his more traditionally favoured left back. Guardiola hasn’t given Kolarov a license to roam forward and join the attack this season which has helped Manchester City defend counter attacks and also hide the Serbian’s lack of pace. Kolarov was solid defensively against the Swans but his passing wasn’t the best, registering a pass completion rate of just 72%.
The Manchester City midfield was poor as a whole in the first half and they weren’t helped by an uncharacteristic performance from Fernandinho. The Brazilian has been excellent to start the season but often lost the ball in the first half. The 31 year old was up to the task defensively though and ensured that despite a poor first half, Manchester City would go into the break on level terms. Fernandinho was much improved in the second half, barely misplacing a pass. After Fernando was introduced for Gundogan, he was moved further up the pitch and had a few good opportunities. There was a powerful shot from just outside the box which just went over the crossbar, a header where he probably should have found the target and he also tried to round the Swansea keeper but Fabianski did an extremely impressive keeping him out.
After an impressive start to his Manchester City career, Gündoğan had his first disappointing game. The German was another culprit in the below par first half performance. Although he kept possession well for the most part, when it came to the final touch or final pass he failed, letting slip a few golden opportunities. Guardiola substituted Fernando on for him after 67 minutes. The 25 year old does look to be a good signing though and Manchester City fans will be keen to see a better performance from him in the Champions League mid-week.
It is difficult to give Silva a rating for this match as he had two very different halves of football. The captain for the night was tidy in the first half but like his team-mates was lacking with the final pass and touch. Silva could have been more ruthless too, a couple of times a shot was the right decision but he opted to pass instead. During the second half, Silva was moved from the central areas of the pitch to the left, De Bruyne came inside while Sterling swapped to the right flank. On another day Silva could have ended up with two or three assists.
The same that was said for Silva can be said of De Bruyne. Once he was moved centrally in the second half he was much more effective. The thing about De Bruyne as it is difficult for him to have a bad game due to the sheer amount of work he does when he doesn’t have the ball. This was encapsulated late in the second half when Manchester City were 2-1 up, Swansea City were attacking and the ball fell to a Swansea player in the box, with no City defenders in front of him. Coming rushing back was the Belgian who nipped the ball out of the feet of the Swansea player and the chance was gone. Just barely a minute after that happened there was a Manchester City counter attack, De Bruyne was back up the other end of the pitch and he gave the ball to Sterling, who finished the game off with an excellent goal.
Sterling was another attacker who struggled in the first half. As the only true winger in the starting line-up he was handed the responsibility of providing width but he wasn’t able to get involved in the game. When Sterling was moved to the right hand side in the second half he was much better despite not having a major influence on the game. The Englishman’s goal was exactly what Guardiola would have wanted after expressing disappointment that City didn’t finish off some of their games. It was a great goal too, the Sterling of last year would have tried to play the difficult pass to Aguero, but the Sterling under Pep took on the defender and finished inside the near post.
Oh how we have missed the brilliant little Argentine. Despite only being in September and missing three games through suspension, Aguero somehow already has 11 goals in all competitions. Aguero was feeding off scraps in the first half and yet still scored the opening goal. The ball in from Sagna was good but the first touch from Aguero was excellent to remove the defender from the equation and then he produced an excellent finish between Fabianski’s legs. A cheeky chip down the middle from the penalty spot gave Manchester City the lead they never surrendered.
Next: 3 Key Takeaways: Citizens Stay Perfect in Victory at Swansea
Substitutes:
Fernando came on for Gündoğan after 67 minutes in order to give City some more defensive stability after going 2-1 up. The Brazilian did the job required of him but doesn’t look likely to trouble Fernandinho’s starting position.
Zabaleta came on for Sagna after 77 minutes. Whether Sagna had a knock or if Guardiola wanted a bit more energy down the right hand side it is not known but Zabaleta ensured Manchester City didn’t lose their two goal lead.
Navas came on for De Bruyne after 80 minutes and it looks like he will be limited to appearances from the bench this season along with a few starts when the first team is rotated. You won’t find too many Manchester City fans unhappy with that and Navas showed nothing in the last 10 minutes to press his case.