Swansea City 1-3 Manchester City, 2016 Premier League: 3 Things We Learned

Manchester City's incredible start to the season continued on Saturday, as the Citizens won a tenth consecutive game with a 3-1 victory at Swansea City, thanks to goals from Sergio Agüero (2) and Raheem Sterling, with Fernando Llorente scoring for the Swans. The Sky Blues had a tough time at Liberty Stadium, but did enough to deserve a victory and stay perfect under Pep Guardiola.

City had a great start to the game, dominating possession, moving well in attack and finding spaces in the Swans' defense to create chances. After just eight minutes, Agüero scored a very good goal to put the Sky Blues in front. The game looked very easy for City, but thanks to an unlucky slip by Sagna, Llorente found himself in front of goal and tied the game just a couple of minutes later.

With a tied score the game was almost chaotic, with both teams suffering to keep the ball and find gaps on the opposing defense. City had the most trouble with possession, and it didn't look like a Guardiola team for a while. But in the final ten minutes the Citizens improved and had two good chances, but were unable to find another goal, and we had a very even game going into halftime.

The second half was as difficult as the first, but City played better football and had more control, and deservedly got two goals to clinch the victory. First, Agüero got his second of the game with a beautiful penalty, and Sterling finished off the Swans with a spectacular solo goal on a fast break. It wasn't the best performance, but City go the win and remain perfect in the league, and in the season. That's the plan, right?

Swansea: Fabianski | Rangel, v.d.Hoorn, Amat, Naughton | Fer, Britton (Borja), Cork (Ki) | Sigurdsson, Llorente, Routledge (Barrow)

Goal: Llorente (12')

Man City: Bravo | Sagna (Zabaleta), Stones, Otamendi, Kolarov | Fernandinho | Sterling, Gundogan (Fernando), Silva, De Bruyne (Navas) | Agüero

Goals: Agüero (8', 65'), Sterling (77')

3 Things

1 - Ilkay Gundogan is very good

The German was a joy to watch in the game. Even during the moments in the first half where City struggled to control the action, everything stopped and looked easy when Gundogan touched the ball. He is always a few steps ahead of everyone on the pitch, and he always finds his teammates in good positions. His movement without the ball and his defense were also impressive, and Ily continues to prove why Guardiola wanted his signing.

2 - Raheem Sterling's bad habits are back

This was another tough afternoon from the young Englishman, who did play a little better in the second half (scored an amazing goal) but struggled to find his best game throughout the match. Sterling lost the ball easily, didn't work as hard as he did in the previous games, and fell over too easily whenever there was contact from an opposing player. These are the things Sterling was known for last season, and he did the same on Saturday. He improved under Guardiola because he concentrated on the good things and working hard to play better, but he showed his dark side in this game. That has to change.

3 - City still have to improve

The two games against Swansea made something very clear: just because the results have been perfect, the performances haven't, and that's a good thing. There is still more to develop and improve on, and Pep Guardiola will certainly look to show his players the negative aspects from Saturday's game and they will work hard on those. Hopefully the results continue to be good while this evolution happens.