Yaya Touré strikes for Manchester City to crush Swansea fightback
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Version 0 of 1. Maybe this was Yaya Touré’s way of bowing out in style and showing Manchester City what they could be missing. Four days after celebrating his 32nd birthday – with or without a cake – Touré accepted a couple of gifts from Lukasz Fabianski to score twice and guarantee City a place in the group stage of the Champions League next season. Joe Hart was nothing like as obliging at the other end of the pitch and produced one save in particular that will live long in the memory. With Swansea trailing 3-2 and only eight minutes remaining, Federico Fernández sent a towering header towards the top corner only for Hart, at full stretch, to flick the ball over with his left hand. The stunned expressions of the players said it all. “Incredible, 99 times out of 100 that’s a goal,” Garry Monk, Swansea’s manager, said. Hart’s work for the afternoon was not done and moments later the England goalkeeper repelled a Bafétimbi Gomis header from close range as Swansea continued to push for a third. City, though, had been a constant threat in the second half and when Wilfried Bony came off the bench to warm applause five minutes from time there was a sense of inevitability about what would follow. Bony, in keeping with the script, rolled in City’s fourth in injury-time and a compelling game was over. It was breathless stuff at times and from City’s point of view showcased some superb attacking football and, not for the first time this season, suspect defending. Eliaquim Mangala endured another difficult day and was fortunate that Hart had got him out of jail earlier in the game, when the England goalkeeper tipped Nathan Dyer’s shot round a post after the Swansea winger had picked the Frenchman’s pocket. Ultimately, though, City had too much going forward for a Swansea team that followed that defensive masterclass at Arsenal on Monday night with a much more expansive performance here. “We got criticised on Monday for apparently not playing so I wanted the players to show to the world we can go toe-to-toe with one of the bigger teams,” said Monk, whose team will finish eighth, their highest position in the Premier League era. Manuel Pellegrini was spot-on when he described this as a “beautiful game for fans”. There were mistakes, superb saves, lovely passages of football and great goals, as well as a couple of well-deserved ovations. All four sides of the ground clapped when Frank Lampard, who spent three months on loan at Swansea at the start of his career, was substituted in the second half. By that stage Lampard had left his mark on the game. Picking the ball up deep inside the City half, the 36-year-old played an exquisite volleyed pass that was inch perfect for Sergio Agüero to run on to in the inside-left channel. Agüero played in James Milner and the England international made the rest look remarkably simple as he checked inside Neil Taylor and found the far corner. Touré, whose agent has said that he is 90% certain to leave this summer, had earlier scored City’s first, and his 50th in the Premier League, with a low shot that beat Fabianski at his near post – the Swansea keeper got a good hand to the ball – via a deflection off Ashley Williams. City looked to be coasting but Swansea got back into the game when Gylfi Sigurdsson stroked a beautiful 18-yard shot beyond Hart. Chances came and went in the early stages of the second half, with Hart thwarting Jonjo Shelvey and Fabianski making a fine double-save to keep out David Silva and Jesús Navas. Swansea, however, levelled in the 64th minute when Jazz Richards picked out Gomis and the Frenchman, holding off a challenge from Martín Demichelis, fired across Hart. Back came City. Driving at the Swansea defence, Touré shrugged off a challenge from Jack Cork and thumped a low right-footed effort from outside the area that, once again, sneaked inside Fabianski’s near upright. Mindful of how well Fabianski has played this season, Monk refused to criticise the Swansea keeper. “He’s been unbelievable for us,” he said. It was left to Bony to have the final word. The former Swansea forward coolly dispatched City’s fourth, and only his second since joining the club in a £28m deal in January, to rack up a fifth successive win. It was Hart, though, who got all the plaudits. “I think he is starting to reach the peak of his career,” Pellegrini said. Man of the match Joe Hart (Manchester City) |