Swansea 1 - 3 Man CityManchester City keep perfect start as Sergio Agüero punishes Swansea City
Home team scorersFernando Llorente 13
Away team scorersSergio Aguero 9
Sergio Aguero 65 Pen
Raheem Sterling 77
Manchester City made it a perfect 10 to continue their immaculate start to the season and take their run of successive victories into double figures, with Sergio Agüero carrying on where he left off prior to his suspension. But Pep Guardiola’s side never had everything their own way with Swansea giving as good as they got for an hour.
The turning point was the penalty kick that Neil Swarbrick awarded in the second half, when the referee penalised Mike van der Hoorn for an elbow on Kevin De Bruyne. Van der Hoorn and his Swansea team-mates were bitterly upset with that decision, but television replays suggested Swarbrick made the right call and once Agüero dispatched his penalty for his second goal of the match and his 11th of the season City tightened their grip on a terrific game.
Swansea, who produced their best performance of the season at a time when their manager, Francesco Guidolin, needed it most, had equalised earlier on through an exquisite goal from Fernando Llorente, but it was hard to see the home team responding for a second time.
City, instead, added a third, when the rejuvenated Raheem Sterling ran half the length of the pitch before registering his fourth goal of the season.
This victory means Guardiola has become the second manager to win his first six Premier League matches, following in the footsteps of Carlo Ancelotti, who did the same thing with Chelsea in 2009, and it promises to be some game at White Hart Lane next Sunday when City take on Tottenham Hotspur in a top-of-the-table match.
Some of City’s numbers are extraordinary. They have scored 30 goals this season and Agüero now has 28 in his past 27 Premier League matches.
There was an air of nonchalance about the way the Argentinian chipped his penalty kick down the middle and it was a sublime first touch that created the space to drill home his first.
Guardiola, however, is far from satisfied with the striker. “Congratulations for his first goal and for the personality for the penalty, he’s scored a lot of goals in the games, so I am so happy for him,” City’s manager said. “But he knows that I want more. He can play better. He can do other things that is going to help us. I will try to help him to develop his abilities. I want him to be involved in our game, in our process, and keep the ball.
“In the box I cannot help him – he’s going to help us a lot in the box, he’s magnificent. His first control for the opening goal was outstanding, but I want to help him to be a better player.”
The only bad news for City was the sight of De Bruyne pulling up with what looked like a hamstring problem nine minutes from time. By that point the game was over, Swansea’s brave resistance broken by the breakaway goal Sterling scored when he skipped past Kyle Naughton with a lovely stepover before coolly beating the goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski.
It was a fourth defeat in six league games for Swansea and Guidolin may well struggle to hold on to his job beyond next Saturday’s match against Liverpool, although in fairness to the Italian this was a much-improved display. Playing with the belief that has been so lacking of late, Swansea were excellent for two-thirds of the match as they produced some lovely passages of football and worked tirelessly to win the ball back.
Llorente led the line superbly and scored a wonderful goal, his left-foot half-volley arrowing past Claudio Bravo and into the top corner following Gylfi Sigurdsson’s clever pass.
Agüero had opened the scoring four minutes earlier, expertly controlling Bacary Sagna’s pass and turning Jordi Amat in one motion before drilling home.
Chances came and went at both ends and Guidolin was right to point out that Swansea had a couple of opportunities to take the lead in the second half, but City were a constant threat going forward with their slick movement and one-touch passing. In the end, though, it was Van der Hoorn’s challenge on De Bruyne that opened the door for Guardiola’s side to restore their lead, with Sterling’s goal ending any hopes Guidolin had of salvaging a point.
The Swansea manager described his team’s performance as perfect and insisted he was not concerned about his job. “I do not feel under pressure,” he said. “I do not need to speak to the chairman. If he has to tell me something, it is the easiest thing to do.”
Guardian