Swansea deliver first league win of the season
Another game against West Brom, another win for the Swans. Given previous results against the Baggies I was confident of a result, and so it proved to be as Laudrup's charges proved too much for Steve Clarke's men.
The Swans had what you'd consider a first-choice XI out, and with Canas & Shelvey both showing a growing appreciation of what's needed from a Swansea City midfielder they set to work early on dictating play and controlling the tempo of the game. In defence it was Davies, Chico, Ash & Rangel and they all enjoyed sterling games from the off, pressing high up the field and regularly cutting out hopeful passes from the WBA midfield.
Early on it was all a bit end to end. With Rangel and Davies bombing forward at every opportunity it was leaving gaps which a more clinical side would have taken advantage of. Anelka got free early on but his cross was poor, before good work down the Swans left saw Michu shoot over.
In the first twenty minutes Pablo lost possession a few times, but he made up for it soon after when in the 21st minute he broke past his man down the right hand side. His cross from the byline was blocked but he controlled the rebound and hooked a cross back into the area which found Ben Davies advancing. The young left-back made no mistake and guided a sweet volley with the inside of his foot across goal into the top corner - a truly fantastic finish. Alan Curtis had previously said how Davies possessed a cannon of a left foot, so hopefully that'll give him a bit of confidence as ten minutes prior to that he'd passed up a good shooting opportunity in favour of a shot.
The goal drained any confidence WBA previously had, and for the next ten minutes the Swans probed time and again for openings in the home defence. Before half time the home fans almost had something to cheer though. Anelka fired just wide after turning past Ash, before the Baggies enjoyed an extended spell of pressure, but the Swans always looked dangerous on the break; Routledge's touch letting him down after a neat one two with Michu allowing Myhill to collect.
At half time stats showed the Swans had enjoyed 61% of the possession, and things didn't really change after the break. A pattern had developed which saw both sides enjoy spells of retaining the ball, before one team would make a frantic break into opposition territory when it seemed prudent. The difference was that for West Brom, a combination of profligacy in front of goal and a solid Swansea back four meant they got no joy all afternoon, and Vorm was never truly tested.
Pablo, Michu and Routledge all had further chances before the latter was replaced by Alex Pozuelo, and Bony was also replaced by Jonathan De Guzman as Laudrup looked to secure the three points, and in fairness the substitutions worked well as the fresh legs of the two replacements caused some consternation at the back for WBA.
Pablo had looked better and better as the game wore on and was starting to link really well with Michu, as well as picking out advancing team-mates with clever passes, and so it was that he nearly made it two nil with a crashing shot which clipped Boaz Myhill's bar on it's way over. He didn't have long to wait though as minutes later good work from Michu on the left saw him pick out his fellow Spaniard and Hernandez had the simple task of steering the ball home with the keeper stranded. 2-0, and game over.
The rest of the game was played out much like the other 80-odd minutes, and West Brom looked, by the end, a well beaten team. The win comes at a brilliant time for the Swans as with two weeks until the next match (against Liverpool) it was important to get a positive result heading into an extended break period.
If you were looking to pick holes in today's performance, you could say that West Brom spurned some excellent counter-attacking chances, and you'd be right, but would there be any point picking out the negatives today? A first league win of the season is something to be enjoyed, and I don't see the point in nit-picking too much. No doubt there are things which Laudrup will have seen today and plans to address in training, but the main benefit will be the positive mindset you pick up after a resounding win.
Two weeks until the next match then - Liverpool away then Valencia away. Times are good, and they could get even better.