A deflected Andre Ayew free kick sneaked Swansea City a point to end the season in a match which was more about opponents Manchester City, who secured Champions League football next season with a 1-1 draw.

Slice of luck gets Swans a point

Things looked ominous in the early stages of this one for Swansea as they fell behind just five minutes in through a Kelechi Iheanacho strike. Simple build-up as Kevin De Bruyne beat his man on the left hand side of the box and pulled it back to Sergio Aguero who hit it straight at Kristoffer Nordfhelt, but the ball broke for Iheanacho who put in the rebound.

However Francesco Guidolin's side did not crumble in this one and managed to get back on terms right on the stroke of half time. The perfect position for a set piece with the ball dead centre and 25 yards out, with Andre Ayew stepping up and whipping it onto Fernando's head on the end of the wall who diverted it into the bottom left corner.

Backs against the wall job

For a season finale, at home as well it was a really poor start to the game for Swansea as they were up against it straight away by conceding in the opening five minutes. Their encampment in their own half of the field was so strong that Swansea did not have a single attempt at goal in the opening half an hour.

It was really only down to the selfishness of City's attackers that the Swans were still in the game before Ayew drew them level. On numerous occasions in the first half, the likes of Jordi Amat and Fedirico Fernandez were stretched at the back, but Aguero and co went solo instead of picking the pass with the golden boot contender hitting the side netting twice from tight angles.

It was a big day for Nordvelt making his Premier League debut and statistically it looks a good game for him as City had 20 plus shots but only scored once. However the truth is this was down to poor decisions in the final third and an awful bit of luck, there weren't actually too many saves he made of note.

A fighting second half

The ultimate reason in the end for Swansea not losing the season ending game was because of their character as a squad rather than ability on the pitch. That being said the Swans had arguably the best chance of the second half as Fernandez rose highest to meet a corner from the left and head back across goal, but the ball dropped just wide of the far post. 

A small negative to take away from the match is the fact the Swans dropped from 11th to finish 12th on the final day as Everton beat Norwich City 3-0, but after looking likely candidates for the drop in the new year, the Jack fans can overlook this small dissapointment thanks to a great job from Guidolin to guide them to safety and earn himself a two year contract.

Meanwhile for City this was a good point for them as it secured Champions League football bar a Manchester United mathematical miracle whenever they play Bournemouth in their final league game. 

Pellegrini waved goodbye to the City fans (photo: Reuters)
Pellegrini waved goodbye to the City fans (photo: Reuters)
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About the author
Jamie Joslyn
20 year old sports journalism at Sunderland University, huge Sunderland fan