Talking Points: Garcia and Fernando shine

‘City on Cloud 9’ read a lot of the headlines the morning after the night before - but what were the main topics of conversation?

Club journalist @dclayton_mcfc selects five talking points from the Blues’ latest triumph...

1 Young Guns 

As expected, Pep Guardiola brought in several of the Club’s promising youngsters against Swansea, but how did they perform?

Aleix Garcia was undoubtedly the star of the show and his progress under Pep has been impressive to say the least. The Spaniard was confident from the word go, spraying passes around with accuracy, keeping possession well and showed he has the ability to beat players as well.

His emergence is a huge bonus for the Blues and his sublime finish for what proved to be the decisive goal of the game was the icing on the cake as he deservedly took star man honours.

Angelino had a quieter game but did have a hand in goal. Playing in an unfamiliar role, he will have learned a lot from this game and now has more senior minutes under his belt.

Tosin Adarabioyo also came on late in the game but had little chance to make their mark, though will no doubt see more of both players in the coming months.

2 Excellent Fernando

Fernando is one of those players who quietly goes about their task and rarely grabs the headlines, yet his performance at Swansea pushed Garcia for the man-of-the-match award. It was all the more impressive considering he’d only just been passed fit but bodes well for the season ahead.

With Fernandinho plus David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan capable of playing the pivotal role in front of the back four, Fernando knows he will need to be at the top of his game to force his way into the side, but on last night’s display, he is more than capable of doing just that.

3 Kompany blow

There isn’t a City fan in the world that isn’t keeping their fingers crossed for Vincent Kompany this morning.

The fact he walked off the pitch and straight down the tunnel was always going to be a concern, but after the year or so he’s endured with calf problems, let’s hope the captain was just listening to his body.

And what a comeback - strong, quick and powerful, Vincent will enjoy playing for Guardiola as he has always been a ball-playing centre-half.

The worry is that for a man who gives his heart and soul to the Club to leave the field by his own accord means he definitely felt something. 

Gael Clichy gave positive comments that it may not be as bad as first feared, but Guardiola says there will be no updates until the doctor and medical team have made their assessment.

4 Old Trafford here we come (again)

Let’s be honest, a home tie against anybody is preferable, so to get an away tie at United was probably not the draw either club wanted.

Based on cup tie rules, the Blues are likely to have a large allocation for the game but with October seeing City face Spurs, Everton, Southampton and Barcelona, it will be interesting to see the starting XI both managers put out on the night.

The winners will progress to the quarter-final and it looks set to be another explosive encounter.

5 Sergio return

What can we expect on Saturday after last night’s win at The Liberty Stadium?

One thing seems for certain - City will recall several of the players who didn’t feature in the EFL Cup tie.

Sergio Aguero has now completed his three- game domestic ban and will almost certainly take his place up front, while Claudio Bravo, Raheem Sterling, Fernandinho, leks Kolarov could return. Silva is likely to face a late fitness test.

Nolito’s suspension means either Jesus Navas or Leroy Sane are likely to get the nod, though Fernando and Aleix Garcia did more than enough to keep their place in the team.

Swansea will also make changes - and they will be aware they need to be at their very best to end a disappointing run of results.