Swansea vs. Manchester City: Winners and Losers from Premier League
Manchester City eased to a 1-1 draw with Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday, May 15—a result that should be enough to secure UEFA Champions League football for manager Pep Guardiola next year. Provided Manchester United do not beat AFC Bournemouth by at least 18 goals in their final (postponed) game, fourth place is City’s.
Kelechi Iheanacho scored a tap-in early on to give City the lead, and they proceeded to miss a number of chances from then on. A clumsy Nicolas Otamendi foul then gave Swansea a chance to equalise on the stroke of half-time and they took it—albeit via a heavily deflected Andre Ayew free-kick that Fernando essentially headed into his own net.
Here, B/R picks its winners and losers from the game.
Loser: Sergio Aguero, Manchester City
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Sergio Aguero will have had a primary and secondary objective heading into the final day of the season: secure UEFA Champions League qualification and then secure the Premier League Golden Boot. He achieved the former (just about) but not the latter.
His team-mates tried all game long to tee him up, wasting better positions for themselves in order to force the ball to him in shooting positions. Time and again the moves broke down though, and Aguero was extremely wasteful in front of goal.
One clear chance finally did open up for him after he latched onto a loose ball in the box, but he dragged it harmlessly wide.
City created a lot of chances at the Liberty Stadium, but they mostly went begging because a). Aguero missed (usually by forcing a shot when he shouldn't have), or b). His team-mates force-fed him when he wasn’t in a great position.
It made the game unnecessarily nervy as, on another day, the Citizens could have been out of sight by half-time had his colleagues been a little more selfish.
Winner: Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City
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When discussing building blocks for manager Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, the first name on the sheet will be Kevin De Bruyne's. What we saw on Sunday was another magnificent performance from a magnificent player.
He played off the left flank and created chances left, right and centre; Angel Rangel stood absolutely no chance of stopping him, with accurate crosses, direct counter runs and overloads all emanating frequently from his side.
Of all the men currently in City’s squad, De Bruyne may well be the one incoming manager Pep is looking forward to working with the most.
Loser: Leroy Fer, Swansea City
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According to The South Wales Evening Post, Swansea City manager Francesco Guidolin wants to keep Leroy Fer at the club after what he has deemed a successful loan spell from the Queens Park Rangers.
Will this latest performance give him reason to re-think?
While Fer has been good at times, he is capable of putting in some horror performances. On Sunday, we were treated to one, as he haplessly passed the ball out of play or wide of his team-mates on a near-consistent basis.
Winner: Manuel Pellegrini, Manchester City
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Manuel Pellegrini’s final result at the Manchester City helm wasn’t a perfect one, but it achieved what it needed to. The Citizens will play UEFA Champions League football next season.
The Chilean has been a good manager for the club since taking over for Roberto Mancini in 2013, winning three trophies in three years. The fans appreciate what he has done, but the media, in part, have hounded him for not achieving more.
A loss to Swansea on the final day—paving the way for Manchester United to leapfrog them into fourth—would have tarnished his legacy and opened the floodgates of criticism.
Fortunately for the 62-year-old, he departs with his stock firmly intact. A personal victory for him.
Loser: Kelechi Iheanacho, Manchester City
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For the second straight week, Kelechi Iheanacho turned in a poor 70-minute showing. It’s a shame that such an impressive and promising campaign for the teenager has ended on this bitter note.
The Nigerian got himself into a slew of good positions in the box, receiving passes in dangerous areas regularly, but he botched nearly all of them with poor touches, untidy feet, bad decision-making or awful shooting. He did manage to score—and what an important goal it was—but the simple tapping home of a rebounded Sergio Aguero shot cannot cover up the cracks of a bad all-round performance.
Bleacher Report’s Rob Pollard tweeted that Iheanacho was having a “difficult afternoon,” with the replies of “he’s been shocking” and “that’s an understatement” painting the full picture of frustration for the fans.
