Manchester City 3-0 Swansea City - Statistical Analysis

Samir Nasri

Samir Nasri’s second-half brace meant that Manchester City maintained their perfect home record in the Barclays Premier League with a 3-0 win over Swansea City.

The creative midfielder struck twice in the second-half as City built upon Alvaro Negredo’s opener, brushing aside a Swansea side lacking first-choice strikers Michu and Wilfried Bony.

Key Stats

Despite Swansea’s dominance in possession (48%-52%) Manchester City were still able to secure three points in this fixture.

The 2011/12 Premier League Champions looked good for their money as they recorded a passing accuracy of 90% and a tackle success rate of 79%. This compared to 89% and 74% of Swansea, respectively.

City also had the more fruitful day in front of goal, with 22 total attempts to their name. The Swans only managed a total of nine shots.

Man of the Match

Samir Nasri scooped today’s Man of the Match award following an impressive attacking performance.

The Frenchman scored twice and recorded 53 successful passes, with an average accuracy of 88%, as he played a key role in Manchester City’s win. He also took on five opposition players (highest of any player for either side), coming out with the ball 80% of the time.

Performance Score

City were completely dominant following Alvaro Negredo’s goal in the 8th minute. From this stage onwards the home side outplayed their opposition, preventing them from having any say in the final score line.

The two sides finished the match leagues apart, with 461 performance points separating them both. Manuel Pellegrini will be delighted with his team’s performance, and rightly so.

Key Observations

Despite controlling the majority of possession and out-passing Manchester City, Swansea were unable to capitalise on their control of the match. The Swans put together 521 total passes with an accuracy of 89%. They would really have benefited from having Michu or Wilfried Bony available today. Replacement strikers, Alvaro Vazquez and Pablo Hernandez managed just one shot each. They clearly lacked any menacing attacking output which, in turn, could have turned this control into the prospect of scoring.

Manchester City, on the other hand, looked very good for their win. Despite not playing in top gear they still scored three times and took a well-deserved three points. Pellegrini’s side were efficient rather than spectacular and although they are vulnerable in defence at times, their attacking ability is outrageous. Tonight the Citizens created 16 chances, from a number of positions, highlighting their flexibility in attack.

Besides Samir Nasri, perhaps two other players deserve a mention. Firstly, Fernandinho completed 53 passes, with a pass accuracy of 96%. He also made four key passes and won 100% of his tackles. The Brazilian had a solid game for Man City and was the catalyst to starting their attacks.

Furthermore, Pablo Zabaleta deserves some praise too. The right-back completed 100% of his passes and managed to even set-up one of the goals too, an incredibly tidy performance from the Argentine.