Though it was a drab encounter between City and Swansea with more than a sniff of the end-of-season about it, there were still some moments to savour at the Liberty Stadium.
City managed to put together a few good opportunities to break this deadest of deadlocks, and more often than not, it was David Silva at the heart of the moves.
Let’s examine some of the key stats, headlines and video action from Silva’s performance on Saturday afternoon...
City TV: Spotlight
All of the swash and all of the buckle from David’s afternoon in South Wales...
Mixed Zone
How the press saw David’s contribution…
Prolific City blogger View From a Blue paid tribute to Silva’s performance in his player ratings piece, highlighting his performance as the best of a bad bunch, awarding the Spaniard a 7.
“The only player who hinted at sparkling,” the write-up states, “Involved in all our endeavours and although he missed one very presentable opportunity late on, he was still the most likely to find the breakthrough.”
Even with their understandable leanings towards the Swansea cause, Wales Online also acknowledged David’s influence on the game - even if he couldn’t finish off his good performance with the goal he may have deserved.
“Mancini withdrew Yaya Toure at the break for Dzeko and City began to take a hold on the game, with Silva becoming increasingly influential as he attempted to pry open the Swansea backline,” the match report reads.
“Dzeko put in his contender for miss of the season six minutes from time as he missed an open goal from four yards, before the excellent Silva blotted his copybook by blazing wide when a loose ball fell to him 12 yards out.”
Stat Attack
While stats don’t tell the whole story, they can shed an interesting light on a player’s contribution - check out these chin-stroking tidbits courtesy of must-follow Twitter account, StatCity.
Silva Service: David Silva creates a goalscoring chance every 25.6 minutes on average, the most frequent rate in the Premier League this season.
On A Plate: David Silva has played 42 through balls this season (14 more than the next City player, Yaya Toure).
Craftsman: 916 of his passes this season have been in the final third, with 727 successful (a league high for the Blues).
Merlin: David Silva has created 94 goalscoring chances this season (39 more than the next City player, Carlos Tevez).
@MCFC
Finally, a quick look at the fans’ verdict on Silva...
Join us on Wednesday for our next Spotlight from the West Brom game - let’s just hope we’re toasting a match-winning performance on that occasion...
