Two goals from corners AND we were given a penalty...
Yesterday morning I awoke to glorious sunshine. I enjoyed an hour of thinking "what a nice day for the footie", before a brief (and heavy) bout of good ol' Welsh rain led me to think otherwise. By the time I arrived at the Liberty however, the skies had cleared and I was looking forward to what would surely be a long-awaited home win for the Swans.
Michael Laudrup had restored Leon Britton to the starting lineup, and he was partnered by JDG & Michu, while Ben Davies was deemed fit enough to start. Elsewhere, Pablo was benched in favour of Dyer & Routldge, while Ash missed out again so Jordi Amat continued to deputise in his absence. For Sunderland, Poyet had brought Phil Bardsley back into the team while Steven Fletcher had recovered from injury sufficiently to feature.
The first half was... well, it should accurate describe it if I say I was seriously tempted to just skip analysing it. We were flat, lacked imagination and didn't look like breaking down a resolute Sunderland defence. For the visitors, Bardsley wasted a glorious opportunity at the back post while perhaps the biggest talking point for the Swans was whether or not Valentin Roberge should have been sent off for manhandling Michu when the Spanish forward seemed to be in on goal. As it was he only received a yellow card for his troubles - as had his previously mentioned counterpart Bardsley for an earlier (and nastier) foul on Nathan Dyer.
So it was that we went in at half time with the scored tied at 0-0, and the talk on the terraces generally seemed to be laced with quite a lot of frustration. I remarked to a friend how I'd been particularly "less than enthused" with De Guzman's efforts, and how he did something spectacular every five to ten games which keeps him in the team. Ahem. The only shining light from our first half display (in my opinion) was Leon Britton. He basically spent the first fourty-five minutes scampering around clearing up his team-mates errors, and was the only player who looked like he understood the pressing need for three points from this fixture.
Thankfully, the second half brought about a change of attitude as well as a change of fortunes. The Swans operated with a renewed zip and vigour, and looked much likelier to break down their opponents. Neil Taylor replaced Ben Davies on 50 minutes, after the young left-back (Davies, that is) twisted his ankle in the first half. The Swans seem to be cursed with ankle injuries at the moment, and he's been sent for an x-ray to determine the extent of the injury. Laudrup thinks he may miss a game or two, which doesn't bode well.
As it happened, after Taylor came on we scored four goals. Whether you can attribute that entirely to a switch in left-back I don't know, but it happened. The opener came from a corner (I know!) - Angel Rangel flicking on at the near post and seeing his header (which was drifting across the area but not towards goal) cannon off Phil Bardsley and past Keiran Westwood in the Sunderland goal. 1-0, and the start of a seven minute purple patch which saw the Swans claim the first three of their four goals.
Next up was Jonathan De Guzman barely a minute later - and WHAT a strike. I could try and describe it, but it's easier to just link a video:
Quality. The way he opened his body up... the guy has serious technique and I did feel bad for criticising him based on his first half. I just think he wanders a lot - stick near Leon and, as Laudrup remarked after the game, the forwards will do all the scoring. I think in the first half we crowded forward too often and given how compactly Sunderland set up there was no space to operate in. By sitting deeper you draw the opposition onto you and create gaps further up the field.
Next up it was Wilfried Bony from the spot. Leon, with shades of Hull 2003, burst forward into the left hand side of the box and got the ball marginally before Gardner clattered him. Just inside the box, and a definite penalty. Bony stepped up and smashed the ball right into the the left-hand corner - a great penalty, and I thought that taking the penalty showed massive strength of character. He must know that some fans are questioning his lack of league goals (which I think is harsh) and if he'd have missed it would have severely exacerbated that.
As it happened, he buried it and we were in dreamland. 3-0, and to be honest up until that point I hadn't thought we'd played particularly well! Some call that the sign of champions, but I doubt we'll be vying for the title come the end of the season. There's an interesting statistical analysis of Bony's performance on the official site here: http://www.swanseacity.net/news/article/stat-attack-sunderland-1122485.aspx - hopefully we'll see more of that kind of thing from the club. It's rather novel for that kind of thing to come from the official source and I'm a big fan of it!
Just before Bony's penalty, Fabio Borini was one of two Sunderland substitutions and he came on to warm applause from the home fans. A few minutes later he missed a gilt-edged change running onto a hopeful pass where he skied his finish when perhaps he should have done better. I'm sure the home fans wouldn't have been quite so affable had he found the back of the net, as 2-1 with half an hour left would have given the game a vastly different complexion.
Bony was replaced by Alvaro Vazquez on 75 minutes and Pozuelo came on for Routledge five minutes later, with both Spaniards looking lively. I think for players like Alvaro - a striker who's never had a prolific season - when you arrive at a new club you need to stick a few goals in early on otherwise you lose the belief you're able to be a twenty-goal-a-season striker. I've seen videos of him sticking in absolute worldies, but then again we signed Walter Boyd based on the same principle and he never came close to scoring the thirty-five goals he claimed he was capable of.
The fourth goal AGAIN came from a corner. The Swans got goals from unusual sources yesterday - we got our first penalty in fifty-six games and scored twice from corners. Quite remarkable. And we scored from outside the area. The Swans' last goal came from a corner swung in by Jonathan De Guzman (who turned around his day with a goal and two assists from corners), which found Chico Flores. His header came off Steven Fletcher and slipped through Sunderland's clutches into the net, to make the game 4-0 with ten minutes remaining. Game over, and it was a case of damage limitation for Poyet's men.
Instigated by the Jack Army, a small pocket Sunderland fans could be heard joining in with "Bring back Di Canio", but I suspect this was ironic based on the display of football from their team, and that they appreciate they're likely to be better off under the Uruguayan. Brighton had the best defence in Championship last year, and both the Swansea goals from corners have officially gone down as own goals - if we're being honest there was a stroke of fortune about both. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't.
So, a much needed boost to our goal difference and a confidence-boosting result to boot. Our first home win since March, we now have a Thursday/Sunday home combo of Kuban Krasnodar and West Ham before our little jaunt up the M4 to our nearest and dearest. A good time to be hitting some form...