Manchester City has been unbeaten in all their matches since Pep Guardiola took over as their manager but the game against Swansea City in the third round of the EFL Cup could have gone either way. The current Manchester City boss was apparently displeased with his side's performance during the match against the Swans as they were guilty of gifting the possession to the opponent in both halves that could have ended in a goal at least if it weren’t for the saves by the Argentine Goalkeeper Willy Caballero.
After a tense first half, City did manage to score the first goal through Gael Clichy in the 49th minute and Garcia Serrano made it 2-0 before the 68th minute. A stoppage time penalty goal from Gylfi Sigurdsson made the final result as 2-1. Even though the result went in favour of Manchester City, their defensive errors could have easily cost them the match.
Also read: Pep Guardiola: A manager who translates his philosophy into the football played
Manchester City Left-back shed some light on how the Spanish manager reacted after the game in the dressing room. Clichy said, “The boss wasn't really happy about this.”
He went on to add, “It's one thing to play against a better side who create chances but it's not good enough when you give them through losing the ball in the middle of the park. We know what we did right and we know what we did wrong. The victory was the most important thing and of course, we can improve.
“We were a bit sloppy but I think overall we controlled the game. We didn't start well - the first half wasn't good enough and then we started to play a bit better in the second half. The victory is the most important thing. If you lose you are out of the competition. Now we can rest and look forward to Saturday".
Even with the £47 million record signing of John Stones, City still hasn't looked all that comfortable at the back and require some work to be done. With Vincent Kompany limping off the field during the final stages of the match against Swansea, Guardiola will need to come up with a strategy that can end Manchester City’s defensive crisis. Guardiola’s men will face Swansea again at the Liberty Stadium for their next Premier League match and will travel away to face Celtic in a Group C encounter of the Champions League.
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