Pep Guardiola was content with Manchester City’s victory over Swansea on Sunday. At the post game press conference, he was still glowing a bit from the flashy display of the Sky Blues in the first half.
By the time the game ended, the Catalan’s demeanor was tempered by a strange second half.
“Today we were lucky to score in the last minutes,” the manager said.
“In general the performance was brilliant. I want to give Swansea real credit. At just 1-0 everything can happen. But I’m happy for the performance, in general, and for these three points.”
He commented on City’s diligent preparation for the unique challenges that Swansea would present.
“They’re always narrow. There’s no space between the lines. They provoke you to go wide but then they have four players there to close. They are strong in the box. What they do- in terms of being defensively compact. I was very impressed — I knew that to attack that team would be tough."
Despite Swansea’s quality, the Blues brought monstrous energy to the pitch. Across the starting XI, City was nearly untouchable.
“What I saw in the first half, they were excellent. The way we played in the first 45, that was exactly what I want from my team.”
The lack of options for Swansea, the utter domination of City’s possession — “creating the right, left, between the lines,” impressed the manager.
“But the second half was a bit different. We have to improve on that for the future.”