It was a pleasing Swansea performance at the Etihad this afternoon but at the end of the day they failed to take their chances and the home side scored three more at home to give them what looked like a comfortable three points in the end.

A 3-0 scoreline probably feels harsh on the Swans if we were totally honest and maybe it would have been so different had Jonathan De Guzman not inexplicably blazed over at the end of the first half with the game well balanced at that point. It would have been just rewards for the Swans at the time as they had dominated large parts of the first half and deserved to at least be level at the break.

I am sure I was not the only Swans fan who feared the worst after seven minutes when Negredo curled home a free kick with Tremmel completely motionless as he watched the free kick go around the wall and into the far corner of the net to give the home side the lead. Considering they had scored 41 in 10 home games prior to that point I am sure that many would have felt at that point that a patched up Swans may just be buried under another avalanche of goals.

If anything though it had the opposite effect with the Swans upping their game and controlling the first half with over 60% possession and almost 90% pass completion to boot. Shelvey was pretty much at the heart of everything that was good about Swansea in the first 45 minutes and he had a couple of long range shots that were well saved by Pantilimon in the City goal - would it be wrong here to wish that they had stuck with Joe Hart who you know has always got a mistake in him and today maybe that was what we needed.

Pablo Hernandez was also looking dangerous and he had what looked like a decent shout for a penalty turned down during the first period as well although if we were being completely honest here it would have been harsh on the home side had it been given and therefore a protest for too long seems pointless.

At the other end, City always looked dangerous and from one corner a header from Demichelis rebounded back off the bar to the relief of the Swans who would definitely have been hard done by had there been two goals between the sides at the break.

However, it was the miss of De Guzman which retained most of the taking points at half time. He worked well on the edge of the area and worked himself into space and through on goal but somehow from ten yards out he lifted the ball over the advancing keeper and even further over the bar when it genuinely did look easier to score. Whether it was easier or not is probably open for debate but to fail to hit the target from ten yards is just not right and De Guzman rightly looked sheepish as the two sides headed down the tunnel.

If the first half belonged to the Swans, the second was much more evenly contested and it was always City who were creating the better of the chances as the Swans seemed to tire and as they pushed on more a combination of that and their tiredness meant that space was opening up at the other end.

Thankfully as that space opened up it was one of those days where City were not as clinical as they had been in recent weeks but two sublime moves and two good finishes from Nasri added some distance between the two sides on the scoreline if not through the match stats. At this point it was a lesson again for the Swans in what they need to do if they want to progress further up the lead and that is to take their chances when they come their way and maybe De Guzman was still thinking 'if only' as he watched Nasri tuck his chances away.

There were more chances - pretty much all for the home side - but they were not able to add to the scoreline and the game ended with a three goal advantage for City but many positives from the Swans performance that I am sure they will look to take into their next two home games - both at the Liberty against Newcastle and Hull.

More performances like this and there are wins around the corner but chances need to be taken and that is probably the biggest lesson from the day that we have to take

Bring on Newcastle Wednesday night.

Photo: Action Images

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