Manchester City stroll to FA Cup win at Swansea to reach 15th consecutive victory

Manchester City are through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup after a comfortable 3-1 over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium, marking 15 wins in a row.

The visitors missed several chances to open the scoring in the first half before a low cross from Kyle Walker was missed by everyone in the penalty area and drifted into the far corner.

The contest was over within five minutes of the second half, as Raheem Sterling ran clean through to score quickly followed by a smart turn and finish from Gabriel Jesus. With eleven minutes to go, substitute Morgan Whittaker volleyed in a consolation for Swansea.

One concern for the Premier League leaders was an injury to Rodri, who came off injured with 18 minutes to go. Manchester City will play their quarter-final on the weekend of 20/21 March and will find out their opponents after the draw takes place tomorrow night.

How many trophies will Manchester City win this season? After beating Liverpool 4-1 at Anfield on Sunday, City were expected to ring the changes for the FA Cup tonight. That they were able to entirely replace their back five and two of their forwards so effortlessly is further evidence of a squad with the depth to target all of the pots available to them.

City already have one final in the bank, a Pep Guardiola-Jose Mourinho reunion in April when they face Spurs at Wembley in the EFL Cup Final. On top of that, they’ve become the most consistent team in a wildly inconsistent Premier League, where they currently sit five points ahead of second-placed Manchester United and still have a game in hand.

Their victory tonight puts them within two games of another trip to Wembley, and before their quarter-final in March they’ll resume competition in the one they’re really craving. If this relentless run of form continues then Borussia Monchengladbach, and the rest of Europe, have got a problem.

Gundogan came into tonight’s match having scored nine times in his last 13 games. He couldn’t add to his tally tonight, but in his 56 minutes on the pitch his constant energy and movement were integral in taking the game out of Swansea’s reach.

Swansea City (3-4-3): Woodman 7; Cabango 6, Latibeaudiere 6, Guehi 6; Roberts 5, Fulton 5, Grimes 6, Manning 6; Lowe 6, Dhanda 5, Morris 6

SUBS: Arriola 6, Whittaker 7, Bidwell 6, Freeman 6, Hourihane 6

Manchester City (4-3-3): Steffen 6; Walker 7, Garcia 6, Laporte 6, Mendy 7; Rodrigo 7, Gundogan 8, Bernardo 6; Torres 6, Sterling 7, Jesus 7

SUBS: Mahrez 7, Doyle 6, Foden 7, Gomes 6

30’ GOAL! Swansea City 0 Manchester City 1 (Walker 30) It's in, and it's an odd one! Walker gets the ball in the inside right channel. He crosses low into the area; Torres misses it on the slide, Jesus misses it on the slide and the deceived Woodman can only watch it softly drift into the far corner.

47’ GOAL! Swansea City 0 Manchester City 2 (Sterling 47) What a simple goal. Rodri picks the ball up in the Swansea half and looks to his left, where Sterling is copletely unmarked and away down the side of Swansea's back three. Rodri slides him in with a simple pass, and Sterling runs through into the area to slide the ball into the bottom corner.

50’ GOAL! Swansea City 0 Manchester City 3 (Jesus 50) It's another one! After surviving one score when Torres hooked a ball over the bar, Swansea cough the ball up when playing out from the back. Gundogan clips to to Bernardo Silva at the back post, who heads it to Jesus on the six-yard box. Jesus hooks it back from behind him and drills a low, left-footed shot into the net on the turn. That's a great finish.

77’ GOAL! Swansea City 1 (Whittaker 77) Manchester City 3 Hello! A low cross into the City area finds Whittaker. He pops the ball up with his left foot, and then drives a low, 15-yard daisycutter of a volley into the bottom corner past Steffen!