We were obviously the better team throughout, but fuck me did we make hard work of it at times. Loose first touches at points, wayward passing sometimes, and frequent indecision in the final third as well. The first XI looked strong on paper but I think, in the end, we had too many players who "needed minutes" - that contributed to a very flat first 30 mins, during which Swansea hit us hard a couple of times and should have been 2-0 up before we got going.
Having Khusanov, Ait-Nouri, Marmoush, and Mukasa all on the pitch at once seemed to disrupt the rhythm. The patterns never really got going. We had enough quality to get through to the next round, obviously, but it felt disjointed for most of the night. I think I heard one of the commentators say that of the first XI, none of them had made more than two starts so far this season. You could tell. We looked rusty and nervous for long portions.
On the other hand, Cherki was excellent (after the first 25-30 mins anyway) after barely playing any football recently, so that bodes well for his involvement during the rest of the season. I thought Gonzalez and Doku were great. Ake played fairly well. Stones, Gvardiol, and Foden all contributed when they came on. I'm gonna give some credit to Bobb as well, who was double-marked all night yet stayed busy and never let his head drop.
Things got better after that Trafford 1-on-1 save. I think Swansea realised they'd missed their moment after that shot went wide, and their heads dropped. Based on everything after Cherki hit the post, we deserved to win. Swansea started out wanting to press high, but they dropped into a bank of five and a bank of four for the entire second half. In the end it was only a matter of time before our individual quality made the difference.
Ait-Nouri had a tough first half but found that good ball over the top of Swansea's back line for Doku's equaliser. Marmoush had a stinker but then took his goal very well. And for all that the first half saw Swansea get a couple of big chances (plus the goal), Trafford had virtually nothing to do in the second half, which shows that we did close ranks well. Helped by Gonzalez, who was a close second to Cherki for MOTM. He's obviously got something.
I also think the pitch was in a rough way last night. There was a moment in the second half when Gvardiol tried to ping one out to Bobb on the right side, but the ball just lifted off the turf before he struck it and it went out of play. The picture on Sky's stream wasn't great, so I couldn't tell, but the pitch looked like it was cutting up quite frequently and leaving behind little bundles of grass all over the place. Might have had something to do with it.
Having Khusanov, Ait-Nouri, Marmoush, and Mukasa all on the pitch at once seemed to disrupt the rhythm. The patterns never really got going. We had enough quality to get through to the next round, obviously, but it felt disjointed for most of the night. I think I heard one of the commentators say that of the first XI, none of them had made more than two starts so far this season. You could tell. We looked rusty and nervous for long portions.
On the other hand, Cherki was excellent (after the first 25-30 mins anyway) after barely playing any football recently, so that bodes well for his involvement during the rest of the season. I thought Gonzalez and Doku were great. Ake played fairly well. Stones, Gvardiol, and Foden all contributed when they came on. I'm gonna give some credit to Bobb as well, who was double-marked all night yet stayed busy and never let his head drop.
Things got better after that Trafford 1-on-1 save. I think Swansea realised they'd missed their moment after that shot went wide, and their heads dropped. Based on everything after Cherki hit the post, we deserved to win. Swansea started out wanting to press high, but they dropped into a bank of five and a bank of four for the entire second half. In the end it was only a matter of time before our individual quality made the difference.
Ait-Nouri had a tough first half but found that good ball over the top of Swansea's back line for Doku's equaliser. Marmoush had a stinker but then took his goal very well. And for all that the first half saw Swansea get a couple of big chances (plus the goal), Trafford had virtually nothing to do in the second half, which shows that we did close ranks well. Helped by Gonzalez, who was a close second to Cherki for MOTM. He's obviously got something.
I also think the pitch was in a rough way last night. There was a moment in the second half when Gvardiol tried to ping one out to Bobb on the right side, but the ball just lifted off the turf before he struck it and it went out of play. The picture on Sky's stream wasn't great, so I couldn't tell, but the pitch looked like it was cutting up quite frequently and leaving behind little bundles of grass all over the place. Might have had something to do with it.
