Welcome to the first ever "live blog", where I'll try my best to keep you updated with the goings on at the Liberty throughout our Europa League playoff match with Petrolul Ploiesti. Keep hitting refresh to stay up to date!
20:53
FULL TIME Swansea 5 - 1 Petrolul
We had to wait ninety minutes, but this match had long been over as a contest. Great performance from the boys, and a great confidence booster ahead of the Spurs game on Sunday - especially considering Spurs scored five of their own! That'll do it for my inaugural live blog - thanks for stopping by!
20:50
Good play from De Guzman finds Rangel out wide, and his deep cross finds Wilfried Bony who'd leaped clear of everyone else, but his header goes over the bar.
20:48
GOAL Swansea 5 - 1 Petrolul
What. A. Goal. A speculative ball in from the left is played in and it's that man Grazov who decides to have a go. He produces an instinctive overhead kick which leaves Vorm stationary! Great finish. Not quite game on, but the Romanians are now playing with a renewed sense of purpose...
20:46
Wilfried Bony is fed a low ball and is holding off what seems like half the Petrolul defence. He tried to flick the ball up to himself, but he's hauled down. Again, no foul...
20:44
The corner is poor and is cleared away...
20:43
Petrolul have a free-kick which they waste, but they retain possession and actually force a "save" from Michel Vorm. They've still got possession deep in the Swans' half though...oh, no they don't. The Swans regain the ball and break upfield; Hernandez's cross almost finds Michu but it's out for a corner.
20:42
Judging by the chants, I've been pronouncing Petrolul wrong. If mass enunciation is anything to go by, it's Pet-ro-lool, not Pet-ro-lil. You learn something new every day!
20:41
The commentator just informed us that what I thought was Bony's goal was, in-fact, credited as an own-goal by the Petrolul goalkeeper. Harsh.
20:39
Petrolul enjoying a little more possession at the moment. They manage to put a cross in from the right, but their centre forward fouls Chico and Swansea have the ball back.
20:38
The Swans break down the right, and Rangel's cross goes towards a crowd of players on the edge of the box but Michu's snap shot is high and wide.
20:37
Leeeeeeeeon. The Swansea stalwart nips in to intercept a pass, and put the ball out for a throw. Not really worth a mention on it's own, but Leon is. Leeeeeeeeeeon.
20:34
All a bit scrappy, but it breaks for the Swans and Bony is looking to get free on halfway but he cleverly buys a freekick; waiting for the defender to come into his back.
20:33
Looks like we stand a good chance of beating Spurs' scoreline from earlier...
20:31
GOAL Swansea 5 - 0 Petrolul (Alejandro Pozuelo)
Jonathan De Guzman is involved immediately. He drifts cross the box after picking the ball midway out in the Petrolul half, before flicking the ball to Michu who knocks it to Alejandro Pozuelo, and he delays...delays...delays...before chipping the ball over the keeper who had by that point gone to ground. Lovely stuff.
20:30
Jonathan De Guzman replaces Jonjo Shelvey.
20:29
Hernandez is caught late and, as per usual, rolls arounds on the floor. In fairness, that was really late, and the Petrolul defender picks up a caution for his sins.
20:27
Remarkably, Jonathan De Guzman is about to come on for the Swans, barely a week after running headfirst into Dirk Kuyt, knocking himself out, and suffering concussion. Meanwhile Hernandez breaks down the left but his cross is too deep and goes out of play on the far side.
20:24
Pozuelo has looked lively since coming on...and why wouldn't you? 4-0 up and you're brought on in an attacking position - surely one of life's great pleasures? Strut around...try some flashy gubbins...
20:22
Petrolul's Romanian international striker Grozov took a big swing at a bouncing ball, but his effort is high, wide, and not at all handsome.
20:21
Wayne Routledge comes off to a standing ovation, and rightly so. Pozuelo replaces him. Petrolul have already used two of their subs...
20:20
Game over.
20:19
GOAL Swansea 4 - 0 Petrolul (OG)
Routledge advances on the box from the left and cuts inside,waiting for a run from a teammate. Michu obliges, and he bursts into the left of the box picking up Routledge's pass, before crossing to Bony whose instinctive finish crept over the line after the Petrolul keeper had done well to get to it.
20:17
Hernandez goes on another of his darting runs in off the wing, but his stabbed through ball finds no-one. As play comes back towards the Swansea defence, Chico Flores puts in a proper old-school "have one back" tackle on a Petrolul player, and the referee rightly gives a foul to the visitors.
20:16
This referee seems determined to keep his whistle away from his mouth. Numerous fouls in the buildup of a Swans move go unpunished, so Hernandez's cross finds no-one and the ball is hoofed away. Belatedly, a foul is then given for Grazov's challenge on Shelvey - probably the tamest of the lot!
20:14
More lovely work from Hernandez, this time on the left, sees a ball clipped to Michu just outside the box. He volleys ball first time with a proper body-gurn going on, but it took a deflection which meant it flew just wide. From the resulting corner the Swans go short, but a foul is given against (I think) Bony when the ball is crossed back in after a bit of a pileup at the back post.
20:11
O Ba, O Ba, O Ba! Michu is loving the dummy, and in leaving the ball for Routledge Neil Taylor found space out wide and advanced onto Routledge's backheeled through ball. Sadly nothing came of that move, and not long after Petrolul went down the other end and forced their first effort of the night, but it's dragged wide of Vorm's right post.
20:08
Hernandez breaks free and advances down the right, before clipping in a lovely cross to Wilfried Bony. The Ivorian takes a great tough around his man but his shot hammers off the underside of the bar and away! High tempo start to the second half...
20:07
We're back underway at the Liberty. Petrolul try a rugby kickoff long into the Swans left corner, but Neil Taylor is fouled while trying to shepherd the ball. It breaks nicely for Petrolul, and Grazov almost breaks free but again, it's cleared by the Swans to Pablo Hernandez...
20:05
Alan Curtis found the time to speak to ITV4 about how they'd just reinforced that there's still a job to be done, and for the team to not let up in the second half. Still, I don't think he'd be giving a half-time interview if we were 3-0 down...
20:05
The teams are back out on the field and the second half is about to commence. If you missed all the action....gutted. It's Swansea 3 - 0 Petrolul, with 45 minutes yet to come. Fingers crossed for a clean sheet!
20:00
Ah...free stats! Make of this what you will. Depending on if you believe the BBC or Livegoals.com, we've either had 70 or 58% of the possession, 5 or 7 shots on target (although both agree we've had two off target), and predictably Vorm hasn't had a save to make. There's only been one corner so far, and that was to the Swans, while we're just edging the "fouls committed" by 6 to 3. Or 5 to 4.
19:56
I hadn't checked the BBC feed until now - it's literally awash with fans of other teams praising our boys, with Jonjo Shelvey and Wayne Routledge in particular drawing particular praise. They've asked who'll get an England cap first - Routledge or Andros Townsend (who excelled for Spurs tonight) - previously I'd have said Townsend (purely based on the English habit of only picking players at big clubs) but if he keeps this up tonight it'd be hard to ignore him.
19:54
Via Twitter
19:51
HALF TIME Swansea City 3 - 0 Petrolul Ploiesti
The referee calls time on a first half which saw Swansea dominate. I'm off to roll a cigarette, drink beer and find some statistics. Not necessarily in that order.
19:49
The referee has again pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. When it looked sure to be a Swansea free-kick, he gave it the other way. Michu thought (obviously) that it went our way, and played an exquisite pass to Hernandez, but alas it was to no avail. Even Petrolul manager Cosmin Contra looks bemused!
19:47
Hernandez again links well with Rangel, and his low cross finds Bony at the near post, but the angle was tight and he couldn't get his hooked shot on target.
19:45
Good work from Hernandez, Shelvey and Neil Taylor see the Swans put some passes together, but Petrolul manage to clear the ball away. It falls to Shelvey, who plays it to Michu before the Spaniard slips Wayne Routledge in, but his shot flicks the top of the crossbar and goes over. Has he ever scored a hat-trick before? Answers on a postcard...
19:43
They're strung a good 15 passes together before giving it away then! Best effort so far.
19:42
The Swans try to break down the right, but after a couple of passes are blocked out Rangel fouls his man and Petrolul gain a free-kick. They've got possession...
19:40
The game is settling into a nice rhythm - for a Swansea fan at least. You get the feeling that the Swans are now in about third gear, and that they'll occasionally change up when there's a bit of space to play into.
19:35
I'd be really interested to see some accurate possession stats up to this point. I'd wager it's at least 75/25. All Swansea and Petrolul are struggling to even get the ball. With the Swans more than aware of the impact lots of hectic games will have on the level of fitness within the squad, now we're at 3-0 I'd be very surprised if we bust a gut from this point in. Lots of possession coupled with brief moments of individual brilliance, please!
19:31
GOAL Swansea 3 - 0 Petrolul (Wayne Routledge)
Michu regains possession with a sliding tackle and it breaks to Leon, who feeds Pablo Hernandez out wide.He charges into space before floating a ball to the back post (sound familiar?) which finds Wayne Routledge, who dives in and heads the ball into the bottom corner. Easy!
19:30
Jonjo Shelvey's passing has been very good so far. He hasn't tried too many "Hollywood passes", but has instead concentrated on pinging balls around the midfield at a good tick. He really does cream the ball...
19:27
GOAL Swansea 2 - 0 Petrolul (Michu)
Another foul on Michu gives the Swans a freekick, which goes left to Routledge. He floats a cross deep into the box which finds Pablo Hernandez, whose shot is spilled at Michu's feet, and the lethal Spaniard made no mistake poking the ball home into the roof of the net. He enjoyed that one!
19:25
Ashley Williams reads the game so well. Two or three times in the last few minutes he's snuffed out potential Petrolul attacks before they've had a chance to get going by making timely interceptions.
19:23
Swansea continue to press, which leads to the ball going free and Pablo Hernandez strides onto it before lashing a shot straight at the keeper. Anywhere else and the keeper would have been struggling. At the moment it's all Swansea...
19:19
GOAL Swansea 1 - 0 Petrolul (Wayne Routledge)
A freekick is taken quickly out on the right, and Shelvey's cross is masterfully dummied by Michu which allowed Routledge, free at the back post, to sidefoot home via a deflection from a defender. Possibly a harsh way to concede, but pressure had been building.
19:17
Swansea almost work an opening for Michu, but his shot is charged down. Leon Britton does excellently to retain possession after the ball went loose, sliding in and flicking it back to a team-mate.
19:14
Some good interplay from the Swans see Routledge stabbing a cross in from the left with the outside of his boot, but it's cleared away for a corner. Petrolul manage to clear it away.
19:12
Wayne Routledge is penalised for a shove in the back of a defender who he'd harassed back towards his own goal, when there was no need to make contact. A cheap free kick is conceded, and the ball's cleared back upfield.
19:11
The Swans are looking to ramp up the pressure, and a ball in from the right almost finds Bony but it's cleared away. Swansea continue to press but Petrolul break down the left, however a poor touch from Grozav gives possession back to the hosts.
19:08
Weird. Two really tasty challenges, the first of which (on Bony, the second was on Michu) seemed a definite foul, but nothing is given. Not what you'd expect from a European referee...
19:07
Swansea start brightly, with Hernandez looking lively down the right before it comes across to Routledge, but the ball is cleared away.
19:05
The teams kick off right on time. Can Swansea go one better than their home fixture against Malmo and match Spurs' five goal haul? Let's hope so!
19:02
The teams are walking out onto the pitch...which as usual means ITV go to an ad break. I'll try and find some interesting stats for you...in the meantime why not have a quick look at the preview I put together yesterday?
http://www.theswanseaway.co.uk/2013/08/swansea-city-vs-petrolul-ploiesti-match.html
18:59
Laudrup on ITV speaking about how, despite limited knowledge of their opponents, the Swans have tried their hardest to prepare for this match. He's such a smooth talker...
18:52
Team news is out via the official site. It's as follows:
SWANSEA: Michel Vorm, Angel Rangel, Chico Flores, Ashley Williams (capt), Neil Taylor, Leon Britton, Jonjo Shelvey, Michu, Wayne Routledge, Pablo Hernandez, Wilfried Bony.
SUBS: Gerhard Tremmel, Jordi Amat, Jazz Richards, Jose Canas Roland Lamah, Jonathan de Guzman, Alejandro Pozuelo.
PETROLUL PLOIESTI: Peterson Dos Santos, Sebastian Achim, Geraldo Alves, Alexandru Benga, Guilherme, Damien Boudjemaa, Ovidiu Hoban, Sony Mustivar (capt), Gheorghe Grozav, Hamza Younés, Filipe Teixeira.
SUBS: Mircea Bornescu, Njongo Priso, Romário Pires, Pablo de Lucas, Férébory Doré, Abel Camará.
18:48
Good evening everyone! I've just returned from work, my arse is on the sofa and I'm watching Spurs finish off Dinamo Tbilisi in preparation for our Playoff Round first leg match with Romanian opponents Petrolul Ploiesti. I'll continually update this blog throughout, just keep hitting refresh, so if you can't get to a TV (the game is live on ITV4) then have no fear - The Swansea Way is here!