Swansea City 1-3 Man City: Brave Swans sent out of Carabao Cup

Swansea City are out of the Carabao Cup despite a brave effort against Premier League giants Manchester City at a sold out Swansea.com Stadium.

A stunning strike from Goncalo Franco handed the hosts a sensational early lead, before Jeremy Doku's heavily-deflected effort restored parity just before the break.

And the visitors sealed the victory midway inside the second half as Omar Marmoush rattled home from a tight angle, before Rayan Cherki drilled in a late third.

But while this latest cup defeat at the hand of Pep Guardiola once again ended in heart-break, there was no shortage of character on show from Alan Sheehan's men.

Had Melker Widell not spurned a glorious chance to double Swansea's lead, there's a chance it may have turned out differently. To single him out for criticism for that miss would be grossly unfair, however, as the winger produced arguably his best showing in a Swans shirt.

However, few could really claim Man City weren't deserved winners on the night, despite a sensational start from the hosts, who took the lead inside 12 minutes.

A marvellous pass from Widell allowed Josh Key to wriggle his way through the defence, before teeing up for Franco, who then produced a sublime curling finish from the edge of the box to rattle home into the top corner.

It was a goal worthy of lighting up any contest, and the finish even carried shades of Bersant Celina's iconic strike against the same opponents back in 2019.

On that occasion, Swansea raced away into a two-goal lead, and the class of 2025 arguably should have followed suit after just half an hour.

Having played his part in the opener, Widell should have got on the scoresheet himself, seizing on a wayward pass from Abdukodir Khusanov before being denied