Josh Kilmister looks back at some key moments in Wilfried Bony's Swansea City career
So it’s finally happened. The finest striker to ever put on the Swansea City black and white is leaving us for good, but unlike other departed stars, he couldn’t be leaving on better terms. Here are a few of my finest Bony moments from the last few years.
Bony’s first competitive game vs Malmo (1-8-13)
After signing for a club record £12,000,000, Bony’s first competitive game as a Swansea City player started what turned out to be an exciting European adventure for fans and players alike. Bony kicked off his career in South Wales getting on the score sheet twice in a 4-0 win over the Swedish side, one of which was a trademark powerful header. This turned out to be just a snippet of what was to come from the Ivorian.
Bony’s first Premier League goal vs Man United (17-8-13)
Sure we may have lost 4-1, and we were three goals down by the time Bony found the net, but Bony’s first goal in the Premier League was huge for him. A calmly taken shot slotted into the bottom left of De Gea’s goal was again, just a small viewing of what Bony would go on to do for us. Perhaps not his greatest result at the club, but a first goal in the best league in the world can be hard to come by; for him to get it on his debut was massive.
His goal vs Valencia at the Mestalla (19-9-13)
In my eyes, this is up there with the best of his Swansea City moments. A trip to Valencia had pundits hoping that Laudrup might be able to scrape a draw and maybe winthe return leg; we weren’t having any of it. Bony’s strike put The Swans a goal up after fourteen minutes and, well, the rest is history. In what is arguably the greatest result in the clubs history, a second half goal from Michu and a beautifully executed free kick from Jonathan De Guzman gave us 3-0 lead going into the second leg, and although it’s said often, this really was an extra-ordinary landmark for a club who ten years ago were on the brink of disappearing for good.
FA cup winner vs Manchester United (5-1-14)
Tactical genius Michael Laudrup often opted to start an injured Michu over a hungry Bony, meaning he didn’t have much of a chance to stamp his name on the side. Almost a year to the day that he will join United’s Manchester rivals, Bony continued his mission of winning over the Swansea faithful by scoring a ninetieth minute winner against Moyesey’s struggling United side. I’m proud to say that I was one of the many Swans (and Den Haag) fans in the away stand that night, where we picked up our first ever victory at Old Trafford. He then went on to score both goals in a 2-1 victory over Birmingham in the next round.
Final goal vs Cardiff (8-2-14)
Garry Monk’s first game in charge honestly could not have gone any better. Already two to the good by the time Wilf put his stamp on the game, this is truly one of my favourite games at The Liberty so far. After being denied by David Marshall in the first half and coming close on a couple of occasions in the second, Bony struck gold late on as he headed in a Pablo Hernandez free-kick.
After scoring two goals in the World Cup, there were multiple clubs said to have been interested in Bony, and it was almost a pleasant surprise that he stayed after a nervy transfer deadline day.
First goal of the 2014/15 season vs Newcastle (4-10-14)
Like the Man United game in the previous season, the result isn’t the reason this is in my favourite Bony moments. Three months into the Premier League season and Bony still hadn’t scored, fans started getting on his back and you could see by his body language that he wasn’t happy on the pitch; that’s why this goal was so great. After seventeen minutes Bony had broken the curse and for the rest of the game, he was tremendous – only being denied more goals by the equally-brilliant Tim Krul. The rest of his season with us to date has been brilliant, and that’s all because of one goal against Newcastle.
Final Swans appearance vs QPR (1-1-15)
It had been known for a while that this would be Bony’s last game for us for a while due to his involvement in the African Cup of Nations, but rumours of his potential departure were, at this time, being shrugged off by most Swans fans. Nonetheless, leaving him on the bench seemed a strange choice by Garry Monk given his recent form, and Bony thought so too. 1-0 down to relegation candidates QPR and something needed to be done; that’s when Bony was introduced. After coming close with a free-kick, the Ivorian said his goodbyes in style when he powered a shot into Rob Green’s net, sending Swans fans worldwide crazy.
Of course these aren’t the only goals he’s scored. Twenty-five goals in fourty-three appearances (eleven off the bench) - for me there hasn’t been a better striker to play for our club than Bony, and it’s been a genuine pleasure to have him play a part in our Premier League success.
All that’s left to say now is good luck, and I really do hope that the move proves the right one for Bony – or at least it works out better than others who have left us. Saturday May 16th looks likely to be a strange one for sure, as Bony will once again play on the Liberty pitch, but this time he’s almost certain to be in the blue of Manchester City.
I think I speak for all Swans fans when I say that if on the off chance the move doesn’t work out for him, he’ll always be welcome back on SA1.
Thanks to Josh for his "homage to Wilf" - I'm sure we'll have more pieces in a similar vein over the next day or two. Give him a follow on Twitter @JoshKilmister