Manuel Pellegrini’s smile didn’t last, much like Manchester City’s brief period on top of the Barclays Premier League, but you sense both will be back soon enough.

He’s a tough man to please, this Chilean with the deep frown lines and the low voice. But as he sat before the press, there was the briefest of grins, a recognition of sorts that things are starting to click in the sheik’s playground.

Wins at Swansea are not to be sniffed at and City of all teams know that, having failed in their past two attempts. But they also know better than any of the title contenders that wins on the road make the real difference.

Ominously, the team who obliterated 10 out of 10 opponents at home have made it two away wins in a row in the league and eight in nine Premier League games anywhere. That is title-winning form, even if this wasn’t City at their best. And yet it was also far removed from the City who lost 45 miles down the road in Cardiff in August.

That team made a hash of zonal marking; this team had what managers such as Pellegrini call ‘character’. ‘It’s very important, that character, because at the beginning of the season we dropped too many points away,’ he said. ‘It’s not good for this team to win just 11 points out of 27 that we played in the first half of the season. Winning here is very important.

The key was to continue playing the same way; we didn’t lose against Cardiff and Aston Villa because we didn’t play well. We made a lot of mistakes and conceded easy goals.’

That’s where the back-slapping should stop, though. But they won. And in moments like this, in storms as torrential as that which swept the Liberty Stadium, that is what matters.

A wet Wednesday in Wales? Survived. And how they can thank Yaya Toure. There is plenty of guile in Pellegrini’s team, even with David Silva suspended, but then there is Toure, who has a lot of everything.

He was the best player here, stationed in Swansea’s half but drifting deep and doing the dirty work, too. It was strangely fitting that his goal — City’s second — was probably the grubbiest of the lot in terms of finish, but the sweetest in its creation.

It also killed growing momentum in Swansea’s favour. Until that moment in the 57th minute, this looked like the sort of entertaining but error-strewn game that might have got away.

City led after 13 minutes when Samir Nasri’s corner was partially cleared by Jonathan de Guzman and driven past Gerhard Tremmel by Fernandinho. Nice finish, but Swansea, for all the flakiness of their performances, don’t often lie down. They didn’t here. De Guzman, Wilfried Bony and Roland Lamah exchanged quick flicks before De Guzman went clear. He shot straight at Joe Hart.

Swansea also had a penalty bid rejected when Phil Dowd rightly ruled Vincent Kompany’s arm could not have avoided an Ashley Williams shot.

The next call went against City on the stroke of half-time when Bony, offside, headed De Guzman’s cross past Hart. Cue a storm of Swansea attacks and driving rain. City weathered both.

Jesus Navas was key, beating two men before crossing. Tremmel punched it away, Jose Canas couldn’t clear and Toure’s low shot deflected off Williams. Toure’s 10th league goal this season disappointed Swansea boss Michael Laudrup but not as much as the next, when Aleksandar Kolarov robbed Wayne Routledge and charged 50 yards.

His shot was deflected in by Canas, and that was that until Bony landed a 20-yard haymaker late on. It was, as Laudrup said, Bony’s best performance for Swansea, but he felt this defeat was self-inflicted.

He said: ‘You know that when you are in control it can turn in minutes. That is what happened with Toure’s goal. And the third really hurt.’ Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool might just feel the aftershock.

—Daily Mail