Ben Garner speaks: “I am very proud,” says the Swindon manager. “They are one of the top three teams in world football. Our defensive shape was excellent but I was a bit disappointed with some mistakes on the ball in the first half. They cost us unfortunately but we dug in. It has been a great cup run, a great night for the supporters but now we turn to league football.”
On his team’s determination to play the ball out from the back: “We will keep working on that, keep improving,” he says. “It was a fantastic occasion but our priority is League Two and getting promotion.”
Rodolfo Borrell speaks: “We started really well, on the front foot,” City’s stand-in manager tells ITV. “There were moments maybe towards the end of the first half we were not as good as usual and allowed some counter attacks but overall it was a good game against good opponents.”
Asked about Cole Palmer’s excellent performance, Borrell says: “Great quality. Everyone has been able to see it. He is a great player, still developing quite a lot but there is a lot of talent there. Hopefully very soon he can play more games with us like Phil Foden a couple of years ago.”
Asked if he had been in contact with Pep Guardiola during the game, Borrell says he spoke to his boss at half-time.
Match report: Swindon Town 1-4 Manchester City
FA Cup: Despite a Covid outbreak in the camp, almost half a billion pounds’ worth of talent came out on top against a Swindon Town team 72 places below them in the pyramid. Ben Fisher reports from the County Ground.
Cole Palmer speaks
Manchester City’s man of the match speaks to ITV Sport. “We started well,” he says. “It is a tough place to come. They had the fans behind them. I enjoyed the game. There is always that bit of pressure coming into the team being young but you have to go out there and enjoy it.”
A quick recap: Bernardo Silva opened the scoring for City, poking home a Cole Palmer cross from a couple of yards out, before Gabriel Jesus doubled their lead after a calamitous attempt by Swindon to play the ball out from the back.
After the break, City went three up following Ilkay Gundogan’s splendid free-kick, only to be thwarted from 12 yards when Lewis Ward saved Gabriel Jesus’s penalty. Harry McKirdy prompted scenes of delirium in the stands when he pulled a goal back for City but it was the Premier League leaders who had the last word when the outstanding Cole Palmer rifled home from a tight angle.
Full time: Swindon Town 1-4 Manchester City
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeep! It’s all over at the County Ground, where Manchester City have won at a canter but their League Two hosts can leave the field with their heads held high.
Far better teams than them have and will continue to be beaten by a lot more when pitted against Manchester City this season, although they will rue the mistakes which gifted their opponents their first two goals.
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90+2 min: City youngster James McAtee gets booked for a completely unnecessary shove on Jonny Williams deep inside the Swindon half.
90+1 min: Harry Parsons spots Zack Steffen off his line and tries to chip him but doesn’t quite connect with the ball properly.
89 min: Lewis Ward saves brilliantly from Rodri, getting a fingertip to a rising long range effort that was destined for the top corner and touching the ball on to the bar.
87 min: Manchester City substitutions: Nathan Ake and Cole Palmer make way for Luke Mbete-Tatu and Kayky. Swindon substitution: Mohammad Dabre on for Harry McKirdy.
86 min: There’s a break in play as Swindon goalscorer Harry McKirdy receives treatment for cramp. He looks in terrible shape and is helped off the pitch barely able to walk but sporting a big goofy grin on his face. Good for him.
84 min: Manchester City: Romeo Lavia on for Ilkay Gundogan. Swindon Town sub substitution: Harry Parsons on for Tyreece Simpson. Our two substitutes have a combined age of 37.
GOAL! Swindon Town 1-4 Manchester City (Palmer 82)
City score again. A Bernardo Silva shot is deflected into the path of Cole Palmer, who sends a splendid shot into the far top corner off the post from a narrow angle. Lewis Ward got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out.
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79 min: Swindon win a free-kick wide on the left for a Kyle Walker foul that earns the full-back a booking. Ellis Iandolo curls the ball into the City box, where an unmarked Romoney Critchlow heads over the bar.
GOAL! Swindon Town 1-3 Manchester City (McKirdy 78)
Swindon score! They win the ball in midfield, Jonny Williams advances and plays a great ball wide into the path of McKirdy. His first touch is sublime and with his second, he buries the ball past Zack Steffen with a low shot from a narrow angle.
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77 min: Relentless pressure from City. Now Bernardo Silva plays in Cole Palmer, who shoots over the bar when he should at least have hit the target.
75 min: City have another corner, which Cole Palmer plays short. Swindon try to clear their lines but Harry McKirdy gets pinned back on his own bvyline before being robbed of possession. Palmer plays a weighted passd into Ilkay Gundogan, whose shot from a tight angle is saved by the feet of Ward.
72 min: Ilkay Gundongan spins on the edge of the Swindon box and sends a low shot towards the far corner. Lewis Ward gets down to save well, putting the ball out for a corner. It’s only half-cleared and Cole Palmer jinks this way and that on the left side of the penalty area before pulling the ball back to James McAtee. He shoots over the bar from the edge of the penalty area.
70 min: Swindon double-substitution: Romoney Critchlow and Jonny Williams on for Ben Gladwin and Akin Odimayo.
69 min: Deep in the City half, Simpson gets on the ball again and drives forward but is dispossessed by Joao Cancelo.
66 min: City substitution: James McAtee is on for Kevin De Bruyne.
66 min: Tyresse Simpson tries to barge his way past two defenders through the City penalty area, goes to ground and appeals for a penalty. He doesn’t get one and a replay suggests the referee was correct to keep his whistle out of his mouth.
64 min: Rodri is booked for a wild challenge on Kaine Kesler-Hayden. The clearly rehearsed free-kick is chipped down the inside right and Dion Conroy has his cross put out for a corner by Nathan Ake. City clear.
Gabriel Jesus has his effort saved!
61 min: Lewis Ward dives low to his right to save the Brazilian’s weak effort. A pause in his run-up meant he couldn’t get as much power as he’d have liked into the shot.
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Penalty for Man City!
61 min: Bernardo Silva is fouled by Jordan Lyden on the edge of the Swindon penalty area. Was it inside or outside? It’s hard to say but referee Darren England points to the spot.
GOAL! Swindon Town 0-3 Manchester City (Gundogan 59)
58 min: De Bruyne is OK and City have a free-kick. Ilkay Gundogan catches the poorly positioned defensive wall out, curling the ball around the outside of it and into the bottom corner. That is an excellent, opportunistic strike but the defending was criminal.
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56 min: Kevin De Bruyne goes to ground, hurt under a challenge from Ellis Iandolo as the duo contested a high hospital pass towards De Bruyne from Joao Cancelo. That looked painful.
54 min: Cole Palmer cuts in from the right and has a shot deflected narrowly wide of the angle of upright and cross-bar. A corner for City which Dion Conroy heads clear.
53 min: A Swindon free-kick from wide on the right is curled straight into the arms of City’s American goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
52 min: Lewis Ward tries to play out from the back again, has the ball played back his way and proceeds to lump it long. In the ITV commentary box, Ally McCoist is on co-comms and utterly baffled by the tactic. “Why not just play it long and wide in the first place?”
50 min: Bernardo Silva latches on to a dink over the top and has his shot from close range saved by the feet of Lewis Ward. Offside.
49 min: Joao Cancelo finds himself in possessino on the edge of the Swindon box but is bundled off the ball before he can pull the trigger.
48 min: Under pressure from Ben Gladwin, Kyle Walker tries a shot from distance but he’s off balance and sends his effort very high and very wide of the Swindon goal.
46 min: City play it out from the back with Nathan Ake charging forward before laying the ball off to Bernardo Silva. Their advance continues, the ball pinging around the Swindon penalty area before being cleared.
Second half: Swindon Town 0-2 Manchester City
46 min: Play resumes with Swindon striker Harry McKirdy doing the honours. There are no changes in personnel on either side.
Half-time: Swindon Town 0-2 Manchester City
Peep! Darren England blows for half-time, with Swindon trailing by two goals. Bernardo Silva opened the scoring for the visitors, tapping in from close range after excellent work down the right from Cole Palmer. Gabriel Jesus added their second, his fine finish coming after Swindon shot themselves in the foot trying to play the ball out of from the back. The home side have created a couple of half-chances but have yet to pose a serious threat.
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44 min: From a City corner, the ball finds its way to Joao Cancelo a few yards outside the Swindon penalty area. With a minimum of backlift, he sends a shot towards the top corner and it hits the side-netting. I thought that was in and I suspect the Swindon fans behind the goal did too. It was some strike!
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42 min: Manchester City attack down the right flank, with good contributions from Kyle Walker and Cole Palmer. Swindon hoof clear and Harry McKirdy finds himself bearing down on the City penalty area with one defender in front of him and three more hot on his heels. Joao Cancelo bundles him off the ball to avert the danger.
39 min: Jordan Lydon receives the ball wide on the right and squares the ball across the face of the Manchester City goal. With McKirdy loitering with intent at the back post, Kyle Walker puts the ball out for a corner. Nothing comes from the set piece.
38 min: Relentless City pressure with Swindon struggling to get the ball out of their own half. A high velocity backpass from Reed under pressure from Cole Palmer is hacked clear by Lewis Ward, who is having a predictably busy night.
36 min: Bernardo Silva makes a clever run between defenders to latch on to a ball from deep and brings a smart save out of Lewis Ward from a tight angle. Offside.
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34 min: Another City corner, which they take short to create a better angle for Kevin De Bruyne’s cross. It’s blocked.
33 min: Manchester City corner. Kevin De Bruyne’s delivery is met by an unmarked Rodri, who plants his downward header into the ground on the edge of the six-yard box. Swindon clear.
30 min: On the touchline, Swindon boss Ben Garner threw his arms in the air in frustration as the second goal went in, having instructed his goalkeeper Lewis Ward to go long with his kickout. Ward wanted to but one of his teammates knew better and I think it was eventually Louis Reed who lost the ball just outside the Swindon area.
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GOAL! Swindon Town 0-2 Manchester City (Jesus 28)
City double their lead! Gabriel Jesus slots a low diagonal shot into the far corner after running on to a weighted Kevin De Bruyne pass. That was a gift from Swindon, who got caught trying to play the ball out from the back again.
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27 min: Nathan Ake advances towards the halfway line before clipping a long diagonal pass towards Cole Palmer. He goes to ground under a challenge and the ball goes out for a goal-kick.
24 min: Steffen gets another touch, reacting quickly to come off his line and intercept a Tyreece Simpson pass towards Harry McKirdy. In the ensuing scramble down by the corner flag, Joao Cancelo is penalised for a foul on Simpson. The subsequent free-kick is cleared.
23 min: Zack Steffen gets a rare touch in the City goal, controlling a back-pass before sending the ball upfield.
20 min: As you might expect, Manchester City are in total control of this game. After being teed up Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne sends a tame low effort straight at Swindon goalkeeper Lewis Ward when he looked a certainty to score.
17 min: A poor header from a Swindon defender back towards his own goal sits up perfectly for Silva, who sends a glorious opportunity to bag his second of the night high over the bar. That’s a bad miss.
16 min: Bernardo Silva’s task couldn’t have been easier there but most of the credit for the opener should go to Cole Palmer. After picking up the ball on the right, he shaped to cross before dropping his shoulder, taking on his man and darting towards the byline before stabbing a perfect low cross into the path of Silva, who couldn’t miss.
GOAL! Swindon Town 0-1 Manchester City (Silva 14)
City go ahead! Bernardo Silva taps home from a couple of yards out, converting a cross from Cole Palmer.
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13 min: Joao Cancelo pulls a low shot narrowly wide of the upright after making room for a strike from just outside the Swindon penalty area.
11 min: A dreadful kick-out from Ward falls for Ilkay Gundogan outside the Swindon penalty area. City’s inevitable shot is blocked by Jordan Lyden. Swindon tried to play out from the back there and Ward panicked after rteceiving a pass he didn’t want under City’s ferocious high press.
10 min: Ha-ha! Less than 10 minutes in and Swindon goalkeeper Lewis Ward gets his first warning for time-wasting from referee Darren England after dawdling at great length over a goal-kick.
8 min: Under intense pressure from Joao Cancelo, Jordan Lyden just fails to connect with an excellent Ellis Iandolo cross from the left. Good stuff from Swindon.
6 min: Tyreece Simpson receives the ball with his back to goal just outside the City penalty area, isn’t given an inch to turn and is forced to play it backwards.
4 min: Nathan Ake plays the ball wide to Gabriel Jesus on the left touchloine and he plays the ball to Joao Cancelo. He beats Kesler-Hayden down the left and sends a cross in. It doesn’t quite reach Bernardo Silva, who applauds the effort regardless.
3 min: Swindon right wing-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden cuts inside from the right and finds himself in space but a loose touch allows City to clear their lines.
2 min: Kevin De Bruyne’s inswinger is headed clear at the near post by Swindon midfielder Ben Gladwin.
1 min: Cole Palmer takes the first shot in anger after good work by Kyle Walker. His effort is deflected out for a corner.
Swindon Town v Manchester City is go ...
1 min: City get the ball rolling courtesy of Bernardo Silva, their players wearing navy shirts, shorts and socks. The players of Swindon wear red shirts, white shorts and red socks.
Not long now: Manchester City’s players emerge from the narrow, cramped tunnel to a chorus of boos and “Who are ya?”, and are followed moments later by their hosts, Swindon Town, who receive a much warmer welcome. Kick-off is just a couple of minutes away at the packed County Ground.
Classic FA Cup scenes on ITV pic.twitter.com/kq24ZlnSsw
— boydhilton (@boydhilton) January 7, 2022
Harry McKirdy: The Swindon striker will be bullish tonight, having scored four of his side’s five goals against Northampton Town on New Year’s Day. His strike partner Tyreece Simpson, a former rugby player who turned down a contract from Leicester Tigers to concentrate on his football, scored the other one.
Swindon Town v Manchester City line-ups
Swindon Town: Ward, Odimayo, Conroy, Hunt, Reed, Kesler, Gladwin, Lyden, Iandolo, Simpson, McKirdy.
Subs: O’Brien, Crichlow-Noble, Williams, East, Dabre, Cowmeadow, Grant, Parsons, Mildenhall.
Manchester City: Steffen, Walker, Dias, Ake, Joao Cancelo, De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Palmer.
Subs: Laporte, Carson, Kayky, Egan-Riley, Mbete-Tabu, Slicker, McAtee, Lavia, Bobb.
Referee: Darren England (South Yorkshire)
Rodolfo Borrell speaks: “We have prepared from the very beginning to play the game,” Manchester City’s stand-in manager tells ITV. “We have fielded a strong squad. We are taking the competition seriously and the FA Cup is a very important competition for us.
“We have been in touch [with Pep Guardiola] in terms of preparations and we will have him in touch with us with one of the staff in case we need him but he has told us he believes in us.
“Any game in the FA Cup is a very tough game, especially when you play away. The atmosphere is going to be unbelievable, we have already seen that when we arrived. We expect a very tough game.”
Tonight’s teams: Manchester City make four changes, with Zack Steffen starting in goal in place of Ederson and Kyle Walker coming in for Aymeric Laporte. Cole Palmer and Ilkay Gundogan also come in for Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling.
Swindon head coach Ben Garner names Lewis Ward in goal and welcomes back captain Dion Conroy in the heart of defence following a spell on the Naughty Step. An injury doubt before the game, Wales international Jonny Williams drops to the bench with Ben Gladwin coming into midfield. Steve Mildenhall, the club’s 43-year-old goalkeeping coach, is also on the substitutes bench.
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Here's how we line-up tonight...
— Swindon Town FC (@Official_STFC) January 7, 2022
🏆🏆🏆#STFC 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/oOMdeffUhO
Your City XI to face Swindon! 🔥
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 7, 2022
XI | Steffen, Walker, Dias, Ake, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Gundogan (C), De Bruyne, Palmer, Bernardo, Jesus
SUBS| Carson, Slicker, Laporte, Kayky, Bobb, Egan-Riley, Mbete, McAtee, Lavia#ManCity | @HaysTechnology pic.twitter.com/RXMpdsjMxx
The latest on Man City’s Covid situation
“We had an outbreak,” said Rodolfo Borrell in his pre-match press conference. “At the moment, we have seven players unavailable, up to 14 staff members. That’s a big outbreak. We are getting it day by day, I don’t know where it will end.
“All of us, all the clubs are suffering. Some right now, some later. We cope as best we can. We are going back to the protocols from the beginning of the pandemic, minimise the risk at the training facility.
“There is anxiety because we have to test, people are suspecting who will be today, one, two, three less? It’s normal like any job or any club. We are coping, trying to establish the protocols and taking it day by day.”
No replays in the FA Cup third and fourth round: Those are the rules for this season in a bid to avoid further fixture congestion, so in the very unlikely event Swindon have held City after 90 minutes, we’ll have extra time and then penalties if required.
Tonight’s match officals
- Referee: Darren England
- Assistant referees: Lee Betts and Harry Lennard
- Fourth official: David Coote
- VAR: There is no Video Assistant Referee tonight as the game is not being played in a Premier League ground.
Early team news
Swindon goalkeeper Joe Wollacott is in Cameroon on Afcon duty with Ghana and will be absent tonight, which means Lewis Ward will probably get the nod from manager from Ben Garner.
Midfielder Jack Payne and central Mathieu Baudry miss out through injury, while tenacious Welsh midfielder Jonny Williams is also a doubt. Jake O’Brien, a 20-year-old Irish central defender newly arrived on loan from Crystal Palace, could get a baptism of fire for Swindon tonight.
Where to start with Manchester City? Their seven unnamed Covid victims apart, there was every chance they would have fielded a massively – by their standards at least – understrength team anyway so it’s difficult to say who will line up for them tonight.
This much we do know: Riyad Mahrez is away in Cameroon with Algeria, John Stones is unlikely to be risked as he’s recovering from a knock and both Phil Foden and Oleksandr Zinchencko are almost certain to miss out as they recover from Covid. Zack Steffen, Fernandinho and Jack Grealish seem likely to start but let’s face it, we’re only guessing here.
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FA Cup: Swindon Town v Manchester City
Having beaten Crewe Alexandra and Walsall in previous rounds, Swindon Town have been rewarded for their efforts with the considerably trickier job of hosting Manchester City in their first third round FA Cup tie in 11 seasons.
No fewer than 72 places separate the League Two side from the runaway top flight leaders but a bout of Covid-19 in the Manchester City camp has provided Swindon with a glimmer of hope ahead of kick-off.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and his assistant Juan Manuel Lillo will both sit out tonight’s game in isolation after testing positive for the virus, along wih up to 20 other staff in the first team bubble, including at least seven first team players.
For all that Covid-related chaos, City have not asked for the game to be postponed as they have more than enough registered players to meet the FA’s standards for fielding a team in this competition and Rodolfo Borrell will deputise for Pep in their technical area.
Kick-off at the County Ground is at 8pm but stay tuned in the meantime for what promises to be some intriguing team news and build-up.
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