SWANSEA CITY 1, MANCHESTER CITY 1
Manchester City got the point they needed at Swansea City to all but ensure that Pep Guardiola would not have to start his first season at the club negotiating the Europa League next season.
They finally stumbled over the line with their lowest points total for seven seasons (66 points) and registered only two points in their final three games, a situation their rivals United could have capitalised on had they not thrown away a 2-1 lead in the last 20 minutes at Upton Park against West Ham last Tuesday.
The Reds can finish level on points with City if they win their abandoned game against Bournemouth when it is played in due course but fourth place will be assured to the team in blue thanks to their vastly superior goal difference.
City were unchanged from the side who could only draw at home against Arsenal last Sunday but they got off to a quick start.
Kelechi Iheanacho stabbed home a rebound from Sergio Aguero’s early shot after just five minutes for his 14th goal of the season.
The referee, Mike Dean, overruled his assistant who had initially flagged offside, calming the nerves of the travelling City fans.
The Swans thought that they had scored a quick equaliser before it was harshly ruled out followed a push on Bacary Sagna by Jefferson Montero after Angel Rangel’s pass.
But City didn’t build on their early good fortune, wasting chance after chance with both strikers looking particularly out of sorts until the Swans levelled the score in added time at the end of the first half when Andre Ayew’s 25 yard free kick took a wicked deflection off Fernando’s head to wrong-foot Joe Hart.
With the game on a knife edge and knowledge of United’s abandoned fixture on their minds, City opted for a risky approach to hold on to the point they had going into the second half which was just as well as they continue to waste chances that they carved out for themselves.
By the end of the game it was mission accomplished, although outgoing City manager Manuel Pellegrini admitted his Blues had underperformed since the fateful announcement of his impending departure and the impending arrival of Pep Guardiola in February.
He said: “I wanted to win the Premier League this season, but the atmosphere from February when the club announced the new manager was maybe not the best atmosphere.”
The Chilean leaves City with an ageing squad in need of overhaul but the incoming manager will know that the qualification to the Champions League group stage will begin from mid August, shortly after the beginning of the new Premier League season.