This season was far more of an even contest with the best chances falling to the Swans. Whenever a big side doesn't roll over their opponent the focus is naturally on the big team 'not performing'. It was true that some of their passing in the first half was pretty sloppy but the most shocking thing for me was the amount of space Michu found himself in as if Man City believed the 'no striker' selection and thought there was nobody to pick up.
Man City managed only 11 attempts at goal in the whole match, to put that in to perspective, that is the same as their lowest total at home for the whole of last season (which was against Liverpool where they scored early and coasted to victory) and they only managed a single attempt on goal in the first half.
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Attempts by Team. For both sides the vast majority of attempts came in the 2nd Half |
There were a couple of areas I thought didn't go too well for Swansea and they were from long kicks from the keeper and throw-ins where possession was often lost too easily. From the kicks the ball would usually go towards Michu but the knock down end up with a Man City player. Similarly with throw-ins there were a number of cases where the ball was lost easily.
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Long GK passes from both sides: Neither particularly successful but lack of variety in Swansea's kicking often meant second ball went to Man City. |
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Throw-ins from each side: Swansea had 7 unsuccessful throw-ins, more than they had in any game last season |
On a number of occasions, Rangel was quick of mind and feet and was able to get away and start promising moves:
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Take-ons by Rangel (left) and whole Swansea team (right). Rangel with 3 had the most successful take-ons of any player |
Chico was again impressive going forward and along with Ben Davies, is fitting in to what is hopefully a settled back line (although the loss of Vorm could be a big blow).
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Chico with 4 tackles was joint top tackler but credit to Ben Davies for winning 4 out of 4 tackles including what I'm sure was an enjoyable 'man and ball' tackle against Balotelli |
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Passing from De Guzman against Man City (left) and previous game against Wigan (right) showing an impressive rage of passing |
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Match Stats: Created using Statszone
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