Manchester City laid on a Premier League title party for their fans at the Etihad Stadium, with David Silva, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus all taking advantage of Swansea’s flimsy resistance.
On duty for the first time since being crowned champions, Pep Guardiola’s side delighted their joyous home support with a wonderful display of their attacking qualities and a 5-0 scoreline.
De Bruyne scored the pick of the bunch with a vicious long-range blast and the only bum note, Jesus’ penalty miss, was rectified when Bernardo Silva swept home the rebound.
Tweet of the match
542 – Manchester City completed 542 passes in the first half against Swansea; the most by any team in a half of football in the Premier League since 2003/04. Hypnotic. pic.twitter.com/BYM86sIxnb
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 22, 2018
Star man
In with the crowd
How many took up the offer, made via the electronic hoardings, to “celebrate in Abu Dhabi, 3 nights from £359” remains to be seen, though.
Six of the best
EL MAGOOOOOOOOOOOO!! @21LVA
? 1-0 ⚪️ #cityvswans #mancity pic.twitter.com/hVRcWOqyZR
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 22, 2018
Silva’s opening goal made him the sixth City player to reach double figures this season – following Sergio Aguero, Sterling, Jesus, Leroy Sane and De Bruyne.
Ratings
Man City: Ederson 6/10, Danilo 7, Vincent Kompany 7, Aymeric Laporte 7, Fabian Delph 8, Ilkay Gundogan 7, Bernardo Silva 8, David Silva 8, Kevin De Bruyne 8, Raheem Sterling 8, Gabriel Jesus 6. Substitutes: Yaya Toure (for De Bruyne) 7, Phil Foden (for Sterling) 7, Benjamin Mendy (for Delph) 6.
Swansea: Lukasz Fabianski 5, Mike van der Hoon 5, Alfie Mawson 5, Federico Fernandez 4, Kyle Naughton 5, Martin Olsson 6, Tom Carroll 5, Andy King 5, Ki Sung-yueng 5, Jordan Ayew 5, Andre Ayew 6. Substitutes: Sam Clucas (for Ki) 6, Kyle Bartley (for Fernandez) 6, Tammy Abraham (for Olsson) 5.
Who’s next?
West Ham v Man City (Premier League, Sunday April 29)
Swansea v Chelsea (Premier League, Saturday April 28)