Manchester City F.C. Piles Misery on Swansea With Late Deflected Goal
Yaya Toure's shot struck young substitute Kelechi Iheanacho and looped into the net as Manchester City F.C. escaped with a 2-1 win from an unconvincing display at Etihad Stadium against Swansea.
- Associated Press
- Updated: December 12, 2015 11:30 PM IST
![Manchester City F.C. Piles Misery on Swansea With Late Deflected Goal](https://s.ndtvimg.com/images/content/2015/dec/806/yaya-toure-man-ciity.jpg)
Manchester City relied on a huge slice of fortune in the second minute of injury time to pile more misery on managerless Swansea and provisionally return to first place in the English Premier League on Saturday. (Read More in Football)
Yaya Toure's shot struck young substitute Kelechi Iheanacho and looped into the net as City escaped with a 2-1 win from an unconvincing display at Etihad Stadium.
Swansea couldn't have picked a much tougher game following the firing of Garry Monk on Thursday, but looked set to leave with a point after Bafetimbi Gomis equalized in the 90th minute.
Wilfried Bony, who left Swansea for 25 million pounds ($38 million) in January, put City in front with a 26th-minute header but the title favorites of many pundits again failed to convince.
"We really didn't play well in the game," said City manager Manuel Pellegrini, blaming the lackluster performance on a comedown after the team finished top of its Champions League group in midweek.
City, however, finds itself top - at least until Arsenal, which started the weekend in second place and a point ahead of City, plays Aston Villa on Sunday. Leicester looks to retain its surprise lead by beating Chelsea on Monday.
On a subdued day in England's top division, Romelu Lukaku scored for the sixth league game in a row for Everton in a 1-1 draw at Norwich and another in-form striker, Odion Ighalo, grabbed Watford's winner in a 1-0 victory at Sunderland. It was Ighalo's 10th goal of the season, while Lukaku has 12.
Crystal Palace beat Southampton 1-0 thanks to France midfielder Yohan Cabaye's first-half goal, while West Ham and Stoke drew 0-0.
Manchester United looks to bounce back from getting eliminated from the Champions League in an away match at Bournemouth, which beat Chelsea last weekend.
Swansea created the better chances against City, whose goalkeeper Joe Hart may have been the best player on the field. Hart could do nothing about Gomis' piledriver with seconds left in regulation time.
City has scored plenty of late goals this season - three came in the final 10 minutes against Borussia Moenchengladbach on Tuesday - and Iheanacho's was the latest, albeit from a huge deflection.
"We are very disappointed," caretaker Swansea manager Alan Curtis said. "I thought we deserved something out of the game."