SWINDON TOWN RATINGS: Lewis Ward - 5, Got away with a poor kick that went straight to Kevin De Bruyne, but wasn’t so lucky after playing a pass to Louis Reed that wasn’t the best. Will have been disappointed with the free kick that beat him but had moments to savour after saving Gabriel Jesus’ penalty and Rodrigo’s strike. Reuters

Swindon v Manchester City ratings: Ward 5, McKirdy 7; Cancelo 8, Palmer 9



Manchester City comfortably beat League Two Swindon 4-1 to book their place in the FA Cup fourth round.

Bernardo Silva struck first in the 14th minute to open the scoring before Gabriel Jesus capitalised on a defensive error just before the half-hour mark.

In the second half, City controlled the game and Ilkay Gundogan added to the score with a direct free-kick in the 59th minute as they finished with 78 per cent of possession and 22 shots including eight on target.

Swindon’s Harry McKirdy scored a consolation goal but City added a fourth through Cole Palmer in the final 10 minutes.

There was doubt the tie would go ahead as City currently have 21 members of their “first-team bubble” isolating after testing positive for Covid-19, including manager Pep Guardiola and seven players.

However despite the absences, City named a strong starting XI as stand-in manager Rodolfo Borrell made just four changes from the club’s victory over Arsenal at the weekend.

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Updated: January 08, 2022, 3:51 AM