Swansea 2 Man City 3: Aguero double and Silva strike keep Guardiola’s hopes of quadruple alive in stunning comeback
WALKING through a storm might be a problem for Jurgen Klopp but Pep Guardiola is refusing to be blown off course in his pursuit of perfection. The Manchester City boss watched his serial winners survive a Swansea storm to keep their quadruple ambitions alive by the skin of their teeth. Just hours after the Welsh […]
WALKING through a storm might be a problem for Jurgen Klopp but Pep Guardiola is refusing to be blown off course in his pursuit of perfection.
The Manchester City boss watched his serial winners survive a Swansea storm to keep their quadruple ambitions alive by the skin of their teeth.
Just hours after the Welsh Rugby team had completed the Grand Slam at the nearby Milennium Stadium, City remain firmly on course for a grand slam of their own.
The Premier League leaders and Champions League favourites looked to be dead and buried when they trailed 2-0 at half-time.
Yet there is no such a thing as a lost cause for a team of City’s extraordinary resources, particulalrly when you have the luxury of Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling on your bench.
Guardiola could have been forgiven for making wholesale changes to the team which had destroyed Schalke in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
But the majority of his Euro-heroes were straight back on duty in rain-sodden south Wales as City eyed up another trip to Wembley.
And for the first 15 minutes it looked as though it was simply going to be a case of how many they would add to the 16 FA Cup goals they had already accumulated this season against Rotherham, Burnley and Newport.
Leroy Sane’s early tester was well saved by Kristoffer Nordfeldt and Riyad Mahrez was inches wide with his follow-up header as the visitors came flying out of the blocks.
Another sweeping move culminated in Sane picking out Bernardo for a full-blooded shot which demanded an even better save from the over-worked Nordfeldt.
But just when it seemed that it was all getting a bit too easy for Guardiola’s all-conquering superstars, they were brought crashing back down to earth.
Connor Roberts’ sublime first touch allowed him to burst into the penalty-area, where he was cut down from behind by Fabian Delph’s clumsy challenge.
Referee Andre Marriner had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and the only question was who would step up for Swansea.
Bersant Celina had insisted that he was ready to put himself straight back on the spot despite his comical midweek miss at West Brom which had made him a social media laughing stock.
But there was no way Swansea were going to take that risk again with so much at stake and Celina didn’t exactly look distraught when Matt Grimes stepped forward to seize the ball.
It was only two years ago that Grimes was part of the Leeds team which was dumped out of the FA Cup by non-League Sutton United.
But this time the boot was firmly on the other foot as he slammed his 20th minute penalty into the top corner with Ederson going the wrong way.
Suddenly we had a real Cup tie on our hands as the Liberty sensed that they about to witness the upset of the year.
Sane was inches away from applying a finish to Bernardo’s flashing cross as wounded City stepped up the pace in search of an immediate reply.
But an unexpected setback suddenly became a full-blown crisis for Guardiola when his team fell further behind in the 29th minute.
It was apparent right from the kick-off that Swansea forward Daniel James fancied his pace against Nicolas Otamendi at the heart of the City defence.
He seized every opportunity to test the legs of lumbering Argentine and it was his searing run which opened up the space for Wayne Routledge’s precise through to Celina.
The Kosovan playmaker might not be much cop from the penalty spot but he’s deadly when he doesn’t have time to think about it and his unerring finish beat Ederson all ends up.
Guardiola could hardly believe what he was watching as his previously imperious side were taken apart by the team lying 15th in the Championship.
All of City’s attacking intentions were coming up short, with David Silva’s shot hacked off the line and Gabriel Jesus stabbing wide from close range.
But just as Swansea were beginning to dream of their first FA Cup semi-final since 1964, the introduction of Aguero and Sterling turned this tie on its head.
Aguero was convinced that his 69th minute shot had been handled by Mike van der Hoorn but his penalty appeal had barely reached his lips before Bernardo slammed the loose ball beyond Nordfeldt’s dive.
Suddenly Swansea looked like they were running through treacle as they tried to hold off wave after wave of City attacks.
But as hard as they tried, they could not hold out to the end, although their 78th minute penalty looked to be generous in the extreme when Sterling went down under Cameron Carter-Vickers’ challenge.
There was even more good fortune for Citry when Aguero’s spot-kick struck the post and appeared to bounce in off the back off the luckless Nordfeldt.
There was only going to be one winner from there and with extra-time looming Aguero threw himself at Bernardo’s 88th minute cross to break Swansea hearts.