Manchester City had the chance to cement their second place position in the Premier League table, provided they won all three points with a tough away fixture against the solid Swansea side, who've proven a menace against the bigger sides this season.

Third placed Arsenal were set to travel to City's Manchester rivals, United, in the day's late afternoon kick-off, with the difference between qualifying for the UEFA Champions League and having to play a two-legged play-off early next season up for grabs as the campaign draws to a gradual close. Pellegrini was still under scrutiny over his job security with the Citzens, having had an inconsistent past few months in charge of arguably one of the strongest sides in Europe.

The visitors got off to the best possible start, breaking the deadlock inside twenty minutes in south Wales, courtesy of a low power strike by Yaya Touré which was fumbled into the bottom corner by goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who was unlucky not to stop the effort as he got fingertips to it, but was unable to divert the shot away to safety. The Ivorian powerhouse midfielder was teed off by David Silva, with the tricky Spaniard getting his seventh assist of the season.

It was soon two-nil before the break, as James Milner got himself on the scoresheet for the second successive match. Great work from Sergio Aguero (again!) on the counter attack saw a subtle through ball pass into the Englishman's feet, he weaved past his marker inside the area before curling a neat finish beyond the Polish 'keeper into the back of the net, doubling the visitors' lead.

However, the Swans pulled one goal back on the stroke of half-time with just two minutes of stoppage time to play. Jefferson Montero unselfishly passed the ball across to Icelandic creative midfielder Glyfi Sigurdsson, who slammed a well-struck shot low into the corner of the net, beyond a helpless Joe Hart who could do nothing to stop the effort. As the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the first-half, the fixture was still nicely poised with a two-one scoreline in City's favour, although they knew that they could not rest on their laurels as they looked to seal a vital away victory.

As the second-half began, neither side made any alterations. Swansea looked the more dangerous out of the two sides as they pressed for the all-important equaliser, with midfielder Jonjo Shelvey coming close to levelling the scoring. Hart made a good diving stop to his left to parry the shot away to safety, as his English compatriot was invited too much space by the Citzen defenders, 25 yards out, where Jonjo loves to have a pop at goal.

In the 60th minute, Frank Lampard was replaced by Jesus Navas, as Pellegrini's men looked for an attacking injection of pace and another goal threat, which the pacey Spaniard possessed. Silva and Aguero came close twice after combining well on the edge of the area, but Fabianski was excellent when called upon to divert the danger away from his goal, making a few vital blocks with his feet, as well as a right-handed stop to deny Navas from making it 3-1.

Out of the blue, a minute later, Bafetimbi Gomis equalised with a well-taken finish to make it two-two. He took a touch to spin past his marker, before hitting an effort first-time into the corner of the net; Hart could simply do nothing about the finish, as he could only watch it ripple into the back of the net.

Then, the goals continued. Touré ran through the Swansea midfield unchallenged, before unleashing a powerful shot low and hard towards the far post, which Fabianski was unable to save, put Pellegrini's men back ahead. Replays showed that the Polish 'keeper perhaps could have done better, especially given the fact he'd made a few top stops beforehand, but was unable to save that strike.

Talking about top stops, Hart kept his side in-front. A power header from Federico Fernandez looked destined for the top corner, but the English number one showed his acrobatic ability and jumped high to parry the effort away for another corner-kick. Hart was then alert to Gomis' close-range header just minutes later, and held firm to ensure Swansea did not score again during the match.

The icing on the proverbial cake was from former Swansea striker, Wilfried Bony. With five minutes left plus stoppages to play, the Ivorian forward was introduced into the action, and in stoppage time, scored a goal of the highest quality against his former employers, before refusing to celebrate against the side where he has enjoyed so many memories since joining from Eredivise side Vitesse in the summer of 2013. A quick body feint decieved his marker on the edge of the area, he shaped to shoot in one direction and opted to send Fabianski the wrong way before slamming his strike low goalwards, hitting both posts on the way into the net.

As a result, City stay in second place with Arsenal still to play this weekend. Swansea have already surpassed their best points tally in Premier League history, and are sitting pretty in eighth position with the last match of the season to be played next Saturday.

Player Ratings:

Swansea City (2) Manchester City (4)
Fabianski 7 Hart 9
Taylor 7 Zabaleta 6
Williams 7.5 Mangala 6.5
Richards 6.5 Demichelis 6
Fernandez 7.5 Kolarov 7.5
Shelvey 6.5 Lampard 6.5
Cork 6 Milner 9
Sigurdsson 8 Fernandinho 6.5
Dyer 6 Touré 9.5
Montero 6.5 Silva 9
Gomis 7.5 Aguero 8
Substitutes:
Barrow 6 Navas 6.5
Britton - Kompany -
Emnes - Bony 7
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About the author
Mosope Ominiyi
Writer and editor - European football analyst, youth enthusiast. Email: [email protected]