FA Cup: Manchester City breeze past Swindon Town in third round match

Manchester City sealed easy progress into the fourth round of the FA Cup, despite missing a number of players as well as manager Pep Guardiola through positive coronavirus tests.

Goals from Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan and Cole Palmer saw City emerge 4-1 winners against Swindon Town.

Swindon fans were up for the game, especially given what their club has gone through in recent times. They’d been suddenly relegated to the fourth division of the EFL. But a spirited home crowd was not enough to get Swindon over the line.

It did not help matters that Swindon tried to beat City at their own game. City are so well-schooled in Pep’s style of play that they are able to pull it off at any given moment.

And that was what happened at the Energy Check County Ground, where City put in a clinical performance to seal the game with minimal fuss.

Beating the Swindon lot! ?#ManCity pic.twitter.com/3tm8QcuZPM

— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 7, 2022

The signs were ominous when Bernardo gave City the lead in just 14 minutes. That goal owed a lot to Palmer’s run and sumptous ball, leaving the Portuguese with a simple tap-in.

The size of the task at hand became clear once Jesus doubled City’s lead in the 28th. Swindon did not concede any further goals before the break; however, Gundogan scored a third in the 59th minute to all but put the tie to bed.

That being said, the tie was kept briefly exciting when Harry McKirdy scored in the 78th minute. Jesus had a chance to add a fourth but saw his penalty saved. Could Swindon mount an unlikely comeback?

The answer was no, as it turned out. Palmer restored City’s three-goal cushion just four minutes later and that was all she wrote.

FA Cup: manager reactions

City assistant manager Rodolfo Borrell praised Palmer’s contributions to the game. “He is a great player who is still developing quite a lot, but there is a lot of talent there,” Borrell told ITV Sport.

“Hopefully very soon he can play more games with us like Phil Foden a couple of years ago.They are completely different players.

“Phil Foden has had more opportunities and he is established. Cole has the talent and ingredients.”

Swindon head coach Ben Garner thanks the fans for their support and turned his attention to their next league match against Mansfield.

“The league is our bread and butter and we will push on with optimism for the rest of the season,” he said. “It was a fantastic night for the club. It was about our supporters, who have been through a tough time.”