City power past Swansea to make it 15 wins in a row

Men's Team

Guardiola clocks up double century of City wins

Kyle Walker opened the scoring in the first-half with two quickfire goals after the break from Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus meaning City have now won 15 games in succession.

What happened?

City were bright and dominant throughout the first-half.

Swansea defended deep, looking to counter-attack when they could, but City’s possession and movement meant the Welsh side were pinned back in their own final third for long periods.

Gabriel Jesus went close a couple of times and Swans keeper Freddie Woodman made a superb save from Ferran Torres to ensure the hosts stayed on level terms.

Typical, then, that the opening goal should be something of a fluke, as Kyle Walker sent a bobbling low cross into the box that everyone – including the keeper – misjudged as it rolled into the far corner of the net.

It was Walker’s second goal of the campaign, but surely one of the strangest of his career.

Swansea had one or two moments where they threatened, but Zack Steffen was well protected by his defenders, particularly by the outstanding Rodrigo.

Within five minutes of the restart, City had all-but killed the game off.

First Rodrigo played the ball to the left where Sterling found himself in acres of space to run in on goal and he coolly placed it past Woodman on 47 minutes.

Three minutes later, Gabriel Jesus added a third with a delightful spin off former City youngster Joel Latibeaudiere and a finish to match after Bernardo had headed a deep cross back into the middle.

There were more chances, but the hosts pulled a goal back through Connor Whittaker on 77 to spoil Zack Steffen’s relatively quiet evening in South Wales.

Apart from the loss of Rodrigo with an injury, it was a satisfying night for Guardiola who celebrated his 200th win on charge of City this evening.

15 and counting

City’s winning streak now stands at 15.

It’s an incredible achievement by a group of players at the very top of their game.

It also means that we are still very much in the hunt for four trophies as this fascinating campaign continues to thrill and excite in equal measure.

Star man: Rodrigo

Excellent all-round performance by Rodrigo and it will be a major worry for Pep Guardiola to see the Spaniard limp off injured after a bad challenge.

Quietly, he has become such an integral part of the City midfield and let’s hope the injury won’t keep him side-lined.

PEP REACTION:

“I’m very pleased for the way they performed.

“All of them. Swansea is a strong side. They are a really strong team. You understand how many games they were unbeaten. We are in the next round. We are very pleased.

“The game takes more than 90 minutes. I would love to win after eight minutes.

“That’s why you have to be patient, control the strength points. In general we played a really good game.

“It shows how special these players are. And we think of the next one. I know we broke a record of all-time.

“Now it belongs to us and it will be broken for sure. Sport is like this. It means a lot. This is the toughest period.

“To do what we have done so far is quite remarkable. The important thing is the way we are playing, consistency and the next ones.

“We have an incredibly tough week ahead and will take it game by game.”

What it means…

City are into the FA Cup quarter-finals with the draw set to take place tomorrow evening.

The games will be played of the weekend of March 20, with kick-off and date confirmed at a later time.

What’s next?

Next up, City host Tottenham on Saturday in the Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm.

Teams:

City: Steffen, Walker, Mendy, Garcia, Laporte, Rodrigo (Gomes 72), Gundogan (Doyle 57), Bernardo (Foden 66), Sterling (Mahrez 57), Jesus, Torres

Subs: Ederson, Stones, Zinchenko, Cancelo, Bernabe

Swansea: Woodman, Roberts (Freeman 66), Cabango, Latibeaudiere, Guehi (Bidwell 66), Manning, Fulton, Grimes, Dhanda (Hourihane 77), Morris (Whittaker 66), Lowe (Arriola 66)

Subs: Webb, Naughton, Bennett, Ayew

Stats and milestones

• City have won 19 of 22 FA Cup ties under manager Pep Guardiola. Since his first season in England and have scored more FA Cup goals than any other side (68).
• Pep Guardiola has now won 200 games as City boss.
• Raheem’s 12^th goal of the season means he is now the Club’s top scorer.