Swansea 1 Manchester City 2: Gael Clichy gets rare goal as captain Vincent Kompany makes long-awaited return for City
City continued their phenomenal start to the season under new boss Pep Guardiola with dominant EFL Cup win
MANCHESTER CITY continued their fantastic start to the season with a convincing 2-1 EFL Cup third round win at Swansea City, but the night was not all positives – on his return from injury captain Vincent Kompany limped off AGAIN.
Left-back Gael Clichy fired City in front in the 49th minute before Aleix Garcia Serrano added a second midway through the second half.
Clichy's effort cannoned off Swansea defender Neil Taylor to put City ahead.
Vincent Kompany made his first start to the season, after undergoing groin and thigh surgery in the summer – walked straight off the pitch and down the tunnel after stretching in a bid to prevent Gylfi Sigurdsson’s last-gasp goal.
Tonight was his first game since undergoing a thigh and groin operation in May and the 34th injury of his eight-year City career.
It was the first time Guardiola's first choice defensive pair of Kompany and John Stones started.
Gytlfi Sigurdsson scored a late consolation for the hosts.
FACTS, STATS, GOALS & LOLS
- YAYA TOURE might be out in the cold, but the £1million-a-month he’s getting paid for doing sweet FA should keep him warm.
- THESE two teams have won the League Cup three times in the last four seasons, but you suspect it meant more to Swansea in 2013 than to Manchester City in 2014 and again this year.
- SWANSEA fans have waited a long time to see what £15.5million record signing Borja Baston can do for their team. 90 minutes later and they are still none the wiser.
- CITY had £330million worth of signings missing last night yet their starting line-up still cost a hefty £137million.
- ONE month into the season and Swansea fans already appear to have given up on their team. The Liberty Stadium has never been so quiet.
- THERE are some truly horrendous kits being worn by the Premier League clubs this season, but Manchester City’s new orange and purple abomination is without doubt the worst.
- CITY had three teenagers in their starting line-up and another three on the bench, including 17-year-old Brahim Diaz. Guardiola is clearly planning long-term.
- THIS was Vincent Kompany’s first game in more than four months and he could not have asked for more accommodating comeback opponents than Swansea.
- GUARDIOLA might want his keeper to pass the ball out with his feet, but he might have a change of heart after watching Willy Caballero constantly playing his team into trouble.
- GAEL CLICHY had only scored once in five years for City before his 49th minute goal. Aleix Garcia had never scored at senior level until his 68th minute effort
SOCIAL SAYS
DREAM TEAM RATINGS
SWANSEA (4-3-3) Nordfeldt 6; Rangel, van der Hoorn 5, Amat 5, Taylor 5; Fulton 6, Cork 6 (Fer 55, 6), Britton 6; Naughton 5 (Sigurdsson 61, 6), Baston 6 (Barrow 75, 6), Routledge 5.
MAN CITY (4-2-3-1): Caballero 6; Zabaleta 6, Stones 5, Kompany 5, Clichy 7; Fernando 6, Garcia 7 (Adarabioyo 90, 5,) ; Navas 6, Tasende 6 (De Bruyne 58, 6), Sane 6; Iheanacho 5 (Diaz, 80 6).
WHAT THEY SAID
Pep Guardiola on Vincent Kompany: "The doctors are speaking with Vincent and seeing what’s up. Hopefully it’s not a big problem.
"I’ve not had a chance to speak with him yet so I don’t know what happened and I don’t know what the injury is.
"He didn’t ask to come off. After Swansea scored he just came off and I didn’t see that."
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