Manchester City had to rely on their heavy hitters and an element of fortune to secure a place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Pep Guardiola’s men were forced to come from behind against Championship opposition Swansea City on Saturday afternoon.
We already discussed the impact this had on the Blank and Double Gameweek situation over the weekend.
This Scout Notes article focusses instead on the match itself and how Manchester City’s assets performed.
Swansea City 2-3 Manchester City
Goals: Bernardo Silva (£7.5m), Sergio Aguero (£11.8m)
Assists: Aguero x2, B Silva
Sergio Aguero (£11.8m) demonstrated just how important he will be in the upcoming Double Gameweeks as he inspired Manchester City’s comeback at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday evening. Gabriel Jesus (£9.9m) started the match but with Swansea 2-0 up, Guardiola brought Aguero on, in the place of Riyad Mahrez (£8.2m) to play alongside him. Despite playing just 26 minutes in south Wales, the Argentinian came away with a hand in all three goals and had the joint-highest number of shots in the match.
It was his pass out to the left which set up Bernardo Silva (£7.5m) for the first goal, and he unofficially should be credited with the assist for Kristoffer Nordfeldt’s own-goal. It was admittedly a penalty miss from Aguero, the ball striking the post before going into the net off the back of the Swansea goalkeeper’s leg.
Aguero scored the winning goal too, although it was under contentious circumstances as he was offside when he headed into the net at the front post. Either way, Manchester City’s star man proved that he can even deliver attacking returns, goals and assists, when featuring in the closing stages of a game, which should alleviate any fears over whether he’ll start both matches in upcoming Double Gameweeks.
With Manchester City likely to enjoy one as early as Gameweek 32, Fantasy managers will be on the hunt for options that do stand a chance of starting both matches. Bernardo Silva would fall into that category anyway with Kevin de Bruyne (£9.7m) still sidelined with a hamstring injury. But the Portuguese international demonstrated on Saturday afternoon that he could be more than just a secure starter in a Double Gameweek. It was his goal that started Manchester City’s comeback and he provided the assist for Aguero’s winner. Furthermore, Bernardo also finished the match joint-top for goal attempts, alongside his Argentinian team-mate.
“Yes, very important It was a very difficult game, especially to arrive at half-time losing 2-0, it’s always difficult playing away, against a team that made it very difficult for us, and in the end we’re very happy with the comeback and with the win.” – Bernardo Silva
Meanwhile, Raheem Sterling (£11.5m) also played a key part in the result. He was another important player who was initially given the night off but was called into action in the place of Leroy Sané (£9.3m) just before the hour-mark. It was Sterling who won the penalty although images suggested that Cameron Carter-Vickers actually got the ball and did not foul him.
Guardiola was keen to defend Mahrez though, even though he was the one who was brought off when the Manchester City team needed tweaking. The fact he started this match, and did not complete it, does indicate that, like Sané, he is still in the second string XI for now. However, with all the fixtures coming up for the Citizens, Guardiola believes he is in good enough form to be utilised relatively often. With that in mind, Mahrez will probably start at least one Double Gameweek match this season.
“I have the feeling – I know we will be judged because we were losing 2-0 – but I had the feeling that he played good, so he is playing good. I am not a guy who even that…you know that we are here together two or three seasons here when we drop points or lose points, points at someone? Never so always very demanding. He is training hard and play as much good as possible. That is the only way. Everyone is going to play, we need ten minutes or 15 minutes as good as possible, and it’s not about that. I think that we are here so far because of everybody, not just for 11 or 12 players, it’s about everyone who makes their own contribution and it was massive.” – Pep Guardiola
We should take some time to consider Manchester City’s defence as they were undone twice against Championship opposition. That was made all the more worrying by the fact that Guardiola selected as close to his first choice back-four as was possible. Fabian Delph (£5.3m) started at left-back with Kyle Walker (£6.4m) on the right, Aymeric Laporte (£5.9m) and Nicolas Otamendi (£6.0m) in the middle. Given who is and is not available for Manchester City right now, it is hard to see Guardiola making too many changes to the defence in upcoming Premier League matches. Those looking to this end of the pitch in the Double Gameweeks will have to hope this trip to Swansea was just a blip, especially considering it’s four clean sheets in five for the Citizens in the league.
The international break has already handed Manchester City something of a boost as three players have already withdrawn from their respective country’s squads. Fabian Delph (£5.3m) was revealed to have an injury after being replaced by Oleksandr Zinchenko (£4.7m) at Swansea, while John Stones (£5.2m) missed the FA Cup match altogether – so the two are no longer involved with England. Otamendi has also pulled out of the Argentina squad with an ankle problem. The three players are a key part of Manchester City’s strength in depth as they chase the quadruple, so some time for them to recover is important for their chances in the Premier League.
April looks particularly busy for Manchester City with their Gameweek 33 match against Cardiff will now have to be played in a midweek slot, because of the FA Cup semi-final and they are still involved in the Champions League. Once the Double Gameweeks are confirmed for them, we will have to carefully monitor their squad to see how rotation is affected by their scehdule.
“Pray to come back fit. That is what I want. They have to go there play with their national team, enjoy, help their own national teams but hopefully, they will come back fit like they are nowYeah, the people who don’t have the international team have a week off. They have to train, they will have a programme to train every day a little bit, and after you have one week to prepare for Fulham and the next games. The fixtures we have in April, that is why we need everybody.” – Pep Guardiola
Manchester City XI (4-3-3): Ederson; Delph (Zinchenko 57′), Laporte, Otamendi, Walker; D Silva, Gündogan, B Silva; Sané (Sterling 57′), Jesus, Mahrez (Aguero 64′).
