Nasri’s double eases tension

SAMIR Nasri's superb form has come as no surprise to his Manchester City team-mate Gael Clichy.

Nasri, arguably enjoying his best spell since joining the club from Arsenal two years ago, struck twice as City beat Swansea 3-0.

City had been forced on to the back foot after taking an early lead through Alvaro Negredo, but Nasri's second-half double secured another three Barclays Premier League points.

Nasri struggled and suffered much criticism last season, but he appears to be revelling under new manager Manuel Pellegrini and Clichy is pleased to see him at his best.

Nasri's fellow France international and former Arsenal colleague said: "I have known Samir for a few years now and I am not surprised that he is doing well – not just yesterday but from the start of the season.

"Some people say you need to keep a player's legs fresh, but I believe that the more games you play the better you get and the more your confidence grows.

"Samir has always had this quality and the fact that he has been playing for a few months shows through his form.

"When he is like this he is hard to play against and great to play with. But it wasn't just him, as the back four played really well and the strikers worked hard defensively.”

It was another positive result at the Etihad Stadium for City, who fielded 10 men from the side that thrashed Tottenham 6-0 last weekend, including Costel Pantilimon in goal ahead of Joe Hart.

City started as if they wanted to emulate the Spurs thrashing by creating two good chances before Negredo struck from a free-kick after eight minutes.

But Swansea responded well and went on to dominate the remainder of the first half.

City proved a different proposition after the resumption and Nasri underlined their dominance with well-taken strikes on 58 and 77 minutes.

The result lifted City to third in the table and maintained their 100-per-cent home record.