Swansea City crashed out of the EFL Cup with a narrow defeat to an impressive Manchester City but showed signs of improvement throughout.
Swansea City manager Francesco Guidolin
The Swans made it three losses in four games with a defeat against high-flying Manchester City in the EFL Cup but there was vast encouragement despite another gloomy evening at the Liberty Stadium.
The under-pressure Francesco Guidolin made surprise changes with Kyle Naughton starting on the wing and Leon Britton returning to midfield.
Britton impressed in a spirited performance, keeping the home side ticking over and there have already been calls to keep him in the starting line-up for the return of Man City to South Wales for a Premier League replay of the fixture.
Manchester City’s Leroy Sane in action with Swansea City’s Wayne Routledge
It’s been a rocky opening to the Premier League season with little hope given to supporters – The most recent loss, against Southampton, installed a real concern into the fan-base with the team going down without any significant fight.
The loss against Manchester City, however, was a much more spirited performance and the Swans deserved a little more for their efforts.
Make no mistake, there are still real concerns and there are still fears that Swansea are really struggling to replace the, perhaps, irreplaceable presence of former captain Ashley Williams.
Swansea City manager Francesco Guidolin and Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta
There was still a feeling the two City goals were far too easy but barring the two slip-ups against a very stylish Guardiola side, there was a resilience we haven’t seen so much of this season
Pressure continues to mount on Guidolin and reports of an interest in Ryan Giggs have seen the odds of sacking the Spanish boss slash.
However, if Swansea can take the positives from last night’s performance and take the mentality of having nothing to lose into the next three games then they may have a chance of causing an upset against one of the Premier League ‘big boys’.
Swansea face Manchester city at home on Saturday before facing Liverpool at home and Arsenal away. Reports suggest Francesco Guidolin has a little time to turn things around but there has been no clear indication of just how long he has.
Swansea City manager Francesco Guidolin and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
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