Cisse double once again costs Swansea
Seven games into the Premiership season, and we find ourselves sitting in fifth place, residing above Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool & Everton to name a few. But it could be even better. In the last three weeks we've seen two silly red cards cost us a competitive edge, before this past weekend we twice surrendered a lead to a Newcastle team who, with all respect, were there for the taking for a good swathe of the match.
That's not to say Newcastle didn't deserve anything from the contest though. By the time the final whistle was blown Swansea fans would probably agree that the visitors were the more likely team to snatch all three points. It shouldn't have come to that though, as after our first goal we should, and could, have put the game to bed.
Monk restored Bony to the lineup, while Jazz Richards came in for the suspended Rangel. For Newcastle Cisse came in for Remy Cabella with their midfield shifting so that Sissoka played through the middle in support of their returning Senegalese striker. The midfield they put out immediately had me thinking "we'll boss the centre of the park here" and so it proved to be in the early stages, and I thought Ki in particular was impressive in the first half.
The first real chance of the match fell to Newcastle though. Obertan found space on the right and drilled a shot across goal but thankfully it was too far wide to bother Fabianski in our goal. Which was excellent news, as within a minute we were one up. Some neat passing in midfield saw Bony play an outstanding one two with the Gylf, taking the ball under control with his first touch once through on goal before finishing coolly at Krul's near post. A great finish, and at this point - especially given Newcastle's woeful record once conceding first under Pardew - I was very confident.
What happened next was, sadly, quite predictable. We've been guilty of it in the past and while we did fashion a few more good chances, we didn't capitalise on being on top. Shelvey curled one wide, Routledge hit a volley not far over, while the best chance to further our lead fell to Bony, who seemed to have done everything right in keeping his volley down, but Tim Krul was equal to it and produced an excellent stop to keep the score at one nil.
Just before half-time, his efforts were rewarded when Senegalese forward Cisse, fairly anonymous until that point, did what he does best. Obertan stole in down the right and his centre was met at the near post by Cisse, who glanced a finish past Fabianski after beating Ashley Williams to the ball. It seemed soft, but I'll have a proper look at the goals later this week as we've now got plenty of time on our hands to analyse the game. The score was one all and that's how we went into the break.
With the teams back on the field, it wasn't long before we were back in front. A bit of manic passing in front of the Newcastle back four ended with Gylfi again providing an assist, and this time Routledge was the benefactor. Darting on to Sigurdsson's slipped pass in behind the defence, he flicked the ball over Krul who, despite getting a hand to his effort, could only watch the ball nestle in the back of the net. 2-1, and surely we could close it out from here? Wrong, wrong bloody wrong!
As the game wore on, Newcastle came more and more into it. In fairness to Pardiola, this was aided by his substitutions - though you could argue our lack of substitutions until late on exacerbated this. Either way, the longer the game wore on the more likely we looked to concede, and it was no surprise when, around the seventy-fifth minute, Cisse again found himself on the scoresheet. With the assist coming from a substitute - the impressive Sammy Ameobi. Or Sammyobi, as he should definitely be known. Very similar to the first the goal seemed to catch the Swans unawares, and Cisse again found space in front of goal to divert Ameobi's inswinging cross into the net.
You can bet your bottom dollar Monk will be furious with the manner both goals were conceded, and work will likely already by underway to analyse and address what needs to be done to avoid such failures. Both goals came from Taylor's side, though to pinpoint the entire of the blame on him would be harsh, even though he hasn't played particularly well for a while. Either way, it was 2-2 and at that point we hadn't made a sub, despite being obviously in need of a change.
The subs did eventually come in the eightieth minute. Montero came on for Dyer with Emnes replacing Sigurdsson, and in truth only one impressed. Jeff was his usual busy self, looking to run at opponents every time he gets the ball, but Marvin was, sadly, awful. He seemed bereft of his usual tidy first touch, and wasted possession on a number of occasions when well placed. By the time the final whistle came I felt we were hanging on for a point, which isn't really how it should have ended given we were twice up against a side with a truly abysmal away record.
Newcastle are a good side though. They've got good players on their books, and if they perform to their ability they should expect to finish above us in the table. I still feel a point against Newcastle is a tidy result, and as I've said for a few weeks now what's positive is that while we haven't played anywhere near our best for a good few weeks, we've still been securing results. Well, two draws and an unlucky loss after playing the majority of the game with ten men, while I felt we also didn't excel against Everton in the cup but we still came away with a victory. That really is a positive sign because, and I have every faith he can, if Garry Monk can get the side playing to their potential we can look forward to a very good season indeed.
Let's just not wait too long before we really start firing...