A Yaya Toure double and a late strike from Wilfried Bony on his return to the Liberty Stadium gave Manchester City all three points in a thrilling 4-2 win over Swansea.
Bony, who joined City in January, came on as a substitute to round off an impressive attacking display by the deposed champions, who closed in on second spot and secured their place in the Champions League group stages with a fifth successive league win.
Gylfi Sigurdsson's strike from the edge of the area just before half-time brought Swansea back into game
Sigurdsson's right-footed strike rocketed past Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart just before half-time
Toure - whose haul took him past the 50-goal mark in the Premier League - gave Manchester City the lead in the 21st minute against the run of play when David Silva played him in on the edge of the box, his speculative shot deflecting off Ashley Williams' knee past Lukas Fabianski.
James Milner extended City’s lead in the 36th minute but Gylfi Sigurdsson got his seventh goal of the season on the stroke of half-time to give Swansea hope and then Bafetimbi Gomis equalised for a side repeatedly denied by Joe Hart.
It looked to be heading for a draw before Toure got his second (74) and former favourite Bony struck two minutes into injury-time, Swansea's hopes of Europa League qualification over.
The home side started the game rapidly in contrast to their opponents and Hart was forced to make his first save in the second minute when he collected Gomis’ shot after Jonjo Shelvey played the striker in behind the City defence.
It was the first of many saves from the England No 1, who showed why he is both Manuel Pellegrini and Roy Hodgson’s first choice between the sticks.
The Swans were full of endeavour in the opening 20 minutes of the game with Gomis twice sending chances over the bar. Their first shot on target came in the 16th minute when the erratic Eliaquim Mangala failed to clear and Hart had to push Nathan Dyer’s effort wide.
It was four minutes later that the first of the six goals were scored and until then Citizens had been quiet. Silva was given too much space and when he found Toure, the playmaker shot through a crowd of players to beat Fabianski.
City doubled their lead nine minutes before half-time when Milner swept the ball across the former Arsenal goalkeeper to beat him at his far post and the home crowd seemed to be praying for the break.
Hart pulled off a contender for save of the season to keep out a header from Federico Fernandez late in the game
It was the 64th minute when Swansea drew level through Gomis, who was a pest to the visiting defenders throughout the game. He was more alert than Mangala, who failed to cut out a Richards pass, and played the offside trap perfectly to knock the ball past Hart.
Captain for the day, Toure got his second, though, 16 minutes from time and City regained their lead. Fabianski may feel he should have done better as the ball flew under his outstretched arm.
Garry Monk's men immediately lifted the tempo and Hart had to stretch - in a contender for save of the season - to push Federico Fernandez's bullet header before making a double-handed save to thwart Gomis from the resulting corner.
Bony, who left Wales for Manchester for £25million, replaced Toure five minutes from normal time to a rapturous applause from both sets of fans - but his contribution was still to come.
It was probably predictable that he wouldn't celebrate against his former employers when his 92nd-minute strike added gloss and more-or-less guaranteed them second place in the league, behind Chelsea.
Swansea may have lost on the day but they were more than a match for the former champions and are assured of their highest Premier League finish yet.
Player ratings
Swansea: Fabianski (6), Richards (7), Fernandez (7), Williams (7), Taylor (7), Cork (6), Shelvey (7), Dyer (7), Sigurdsson (8), Montero (7), Gomis (7).
Subs: Britton (6), Emnes (6), Barrow (7)
Manchester City: Hart (8), Zabaleta (6), Demichelis (6), Mangala (5), Kolarov (7), Fernandinho (6), Milner (7), Toure (8), Lampard (7), Silva (7), Aguero (6).
Subs: Kompany (6), Bony (6), Navas (5)
Man of the match: Yaya Toure (Manchester City)
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