(Highlights & Match Report) Fulham 1 - 2 Swansea: We always win at Fulham...

Laudrup's men show superior cutting edge in South West London

Another day out in SW6, another away victory for the Swans. Swansea started the day only two points above Fulham, so despite the differing perceptions surrounding respective managers Jol & Laudrup a Fulham win would have seen the Londoners leapfrog the Swans, which would no doubt have put a different spin on both this piece and Sunday afternoon alike.

As it happened, I thought the Swans ultimately showed more quality than their opponents. Laudrup made a couple of changes to his side - Leon Britton is apparently nursing a slight toe injury so Jose Canas enjoyed his first league start for a while, while Lamah and Pozuelo retained their places further ahead in the Swansea midfield. Elsewhere, it was as you'd expect for Swansea City, and they set about frustrating Fulham by retaining the ball almost at will for large periods of the game.

The first half saw the Swans dominate, but Fulham enjoyed the better chances. Bent missed two great opportunities to score - glancing a header wide before later half-volleying against the post with Vorm beaten. He really should have done better and Chico Flores especially will have been glad to see the latter chance go begging, given his weak header had presented the Fulham striker with the opportunity.

A couple of Wilfried Bony headers aside, the Swans' best chance of the first half came when Alex Pozuelo nicked possession back and fed Nathan Dyer, who drew a great save from Fulham keeper Stekelenburg. It was a good effort from Dyer, running in on the right and hit low across goal, but Stekelenburg stuck his right foot out and parried it away - I love seeing Dyer hit placed shots as it's something he's had to work so hard on, so to see him doing it in tight situations with more instinct than laboured thought shows how far he's come since he first joined the club.

So, half time and 0-0, and despite playing the better football it would have been hard to argue Fulham hadn't enjoyed the better chances. With no changes being made by either manager at the break, the second half started in much the same manner as the first, with the Swans knocking the ball around well but struggling to create through the centre. Wilfried Bony was doing a good job with his back to goal, but I can't remember ever seeing anyone play him in on the keeper - which is mad considering he spends 90 minutes on the shoulder of the last defender looking for the quick pass. Feed the bull, and all that...

We did pile the pressure on in the buildup to the opening goal - Roland Lamah, Ben Davies and Jonathan De Guzman all had efforts on goal before Alex Pozuelo won a free kick out on the right. Some quick thinking saw him whip a delicious low ball in between the defence and the goalkeeper, and with Bony lurking Aaron Hughes stabbed the ball into his own net. 1-0 Swansea, and it had been coming.

Our lead didn't last long though. Pre-game I'd likened Scott Parker to a poor impersonation of Leon Britton, so it was always likely he'd step up and produce something. Fulham won a corner, and no-one picked him up as he stood midway between the six yard box and the edge of the penalty area. The corner was passed straight to him, and despite his curling effort almost definitely being intended as a cross it found it's way into the top corner. One all, but if Fulham are relying on scoring goals of that manner they're in trouble!

In between the two goals Jonjo Shelvey came on for Nathan Dyer, and I thought he made a massive difference. He wasn't afraid to take a touch through the middle of the park, and that's what we need - it allows the wingers to stick wide and provide width further up the field, and also creates chaos in the opposition ranks by committing men who are then easily beatable with quick one twos. Some neat passing saw Shelvey show for the ball, before a couple of neat touches and then bang! 2-1. An outstanding finish, and to dig it out with that much power from there... well - it was an excellent finish.

Laudrup made two further changes, with Tiendalli coming on for Lamah and Alvaro replacing fellow countryman Pozuelo. I thought both the players substituted played well - Alex is looking better and better while Lamah is showing he's a useful member of the squad, even if his end product is questionable at present. The game ended with the Swans showing some uncharacteristic gamesmanship, holding the ball in the corner and waiting for time to run out. After giving away so many late goals in recent weeks, it brought a chuckle to my face to see Bony sticking his arse out in the corner and holding off a couple of defenders, waiting for the referee's whistle. We're learning to do the little things that big teams take as granted, and not before time.

So, a first win in six and everything's rosy again. Don't look now, but (until this afternoon at least) we're only four points behind Manchester City...

(Highlights) Swansea U21's 2 - 2 Ipswich U21's

Young Swans went up against their East Anglian opponents at Stebonheath Park

Shame that scissor kick didn't go in, eh?

The contrast in playing styles seemed fairly marked from the (albeit short) highlights compiled in the video above, but it's bringing a smile to my face seeing young players enjoying their football and looking to use clever angles to bring teammates into play. More of the same please lads!

(Highlights) Swansea 3 - 3 Stoke, plus what the players are saying about THAT penalty...

Selected quotes from the media regarding Robert Madley's mystifying and stupefying decision to award Stoke a penalty

I know I say that I don't like talking about this stuff a lot, and that's true, but if everyone else is...

Angel Rangel

“I am obviously disappointed by that decision but we can't talk much about the referees. We are always the ones who get fined but hopefully in this case it won't be the players who get punished but it will be the referee as we have done nothing wrong. When referees make mistakes they should be the ones to get punished.  

http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_0_22744_-.html#.UoD3_vmpWQw

Michael Laudrup

“In every game there are talking points over decisions, but when I saw it again, or even out there, there are seven Stoke players in the box and none were asking for a penalty, apart from Peter Crouch who was appealing for a corner, so there was only one man in the stadium who thought it was a penalty, and unfortunately that was the referee."  

http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_0_22744_-.html#.UoD3_vmpWQw

Ashley Williams

"It seemed like none of their players asked for a penalty, maybe one of them was appealing for a corner. It was a shock to everyone and I didn't see a handball from Wayne or Leon (Britton). I think both sides were surprised by the decision."  

http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/swansea-city/news/williams-shocked-by-stoke-penalty_117249.html

Leon Britton

“I thought maybe he’d given the penalty against me on the line, even though I cleared it with my belly, then I saw the reaction of their players and I thought he had given a goal kick. Then I saw he had pointed to the spot even though not one player had appealed for a penalty. I haven’t seen the replay, but I honestly can’t see where it has come from to be honest. It is very frustrating, especially when a draw feels like a defeat even though we were 2-0 down.” 

 http://www.swanseacity.net/news/article/lb-post-stoke-1166885.aspx?#m7P8BGBtVXfYFuRZ.99

To be honest, I could have gone on and on. There's little point though, other than to once again flag up that certain clubs just don't seem to get decisions going in their favour. I don't think you can use Swansea v Stoke as an example of big-club bias, however elsewhere there have been numerous recent incidents which seem to indicate that there is still a case to be made for this.

Hopefully we won't be talking about disputed penalties again for a long time.

Swansea 1 - 2 Arsenal - What a difference a cutting edge makes

Arsenal's superior finishing is enough to see off the Swans

It says something about yesterday that until Ben Davies scored in the 82nd minute, the most excited I'd been was when I found out the Riverside Lounge have Doombar on tap. Hopefully that means I'll never have to pay money for the "lager" they call Carling ever again.

Yesterday we lined up without Ashley Williams, Angel Rangel & Leon Britton. Anyone who's familiar with the Swans knows that those three players have been integral in keeping the Swans playing "the Swansea way" for the last few seasons, and something I've been banging on about of late is that without Leon Britton we struggle to control the midfield. Yesterday that wasn't the case as we retained the ball at ease, but without Williams and Rangel we looked exposed at the back. Normally, Chico's erratic lunges forward are counter-balanced by Ashley Williams' reading of the game, and the continuity Rangel provides. Yesterday, time and again Arsenal drifted forward and it was all too easy for them to evade the first challenge, before creating something dangerous.

As mentioned, ball retention wasn't a problem. The Swans enjoyed the lion's share of possession, but simply couldn't do anything with it. Some of Laudrup's team selection's of late could start to be questioned - Ashley Williams missed a second match in a row after playing through the pain barrier against Crystal Palace while Wilfried Bony had to make do with a place on the bench after playing 90 minutes against Birmingham in the League Cup midweek, and until the Ivorian's introduction yesterday the Swans looked pretty toothless.

The first half was essentially a sparring match. Both sides threatened to create but in truth it was lots of huffing and puffing with little in the way of blowing the house down. The best chance of the half came late on when Giroud was played through, but he dragged his shot across Vorm and out for a goal-kick, and so it went into half time at 0-0. 

Neither side made changes at half-time, but I detected a decrease in confidence from the Swansea team after the break. Laudrup has described the four-minute period where we conceded two goals as a "lapse in concentration" and while that's true by the time we came out of our slumber we were two goals down, so for all the pomp and verve we played with after that unless it resulted in a point (or three) it's all rather redundant. 

The big difference was the manner in which both teams broke forward. When Swansea broke - normally through Nathan Dyer or Wayne Routledge - it seemed they'd break to a point, before pulling up and waiting for support, which was normally slow to arrive. Arsenal, on the other hand, showed the power of breaking in numbers, and when they bombed forward it was with a sense of intent which almost always saw them produce an effort on goal. Again, the lack of Ashley Williams was palpable as they found space in front of our back four with ease, and the Wales skipper must surely have watched on in frustration as the man he's swapped the Welsh captaincy with slipped youngster Gnabry in to finish with aplomb. 

To make matters worse, Ramsey (booed throughout) then went and made it two-nil. Given how little we'd created until that point, it was almost certainly game over. Michu was cutting an increasingly frustrated figure, and Dwight Tiendalli in particular was wasteful when well placed - by my count he shanked at least three crosses when we had players in support in the area, and at one point Michu could be seen ranting to no-one in particular for a good few seconds. Frustrated indeed.

For his part, the tall Spanish striker did play well and was always offering himself as an outlet - it's just a shame the rest of the team didn't play with the same sense of urgency and industry he displayed. Two players who did impress however, and have done so all season, were Ben Davies and Jose Canas. Back in February I put together a profile on Canas when we were rumoured to be interested in him (Link) and I called him a hairy Leon Britton. I think now, with all due respect to Leon (of whom I'm a massive fan) it's a disservice to Canas, who's showing he really is an outstanding footballer. Mesut Ozil has enjoyed an outstanding season so far but the Spaniard marked the £43million German out of the game. 

Ben Davies, meanwhile, managed to get himself on the scoresheet again. He's showing a growing knack of being in the right place at the right time, and he was also the only Swansea player who seemed to want to run beyond the last man. Late on, he linked excellently with Bony before managing to improvise a finish past Szczęsny, and he really is looking some player. Neil Taylor isn't getting a look in at the moment, and for good reason. Time and again Davies has played out of his skin, and his ability to not dive in to a tackle should be applauded, especially when he finds himself up against players like Jack Wilshire. He stands his man up so well, and it's very, very rare someone gets in behind him.

The introduction of Bony did see the Swans find an extra gear. As mentioned, he got the assist for Davies' goal and also managed to fashion a couple of half chances for himself - one in particular the Arsenal defence did well to block after he'd turned his man and seemed set to pull the trigger. Given how clinical he's been so far, from that range you'd have banked on him finding the target.

A note on Bony - why do some fans seem intent on him being useless? Get a grip is it? We've spent a massive amount of money on him and berating him from the stands when he'd just attempted to do something we hadn't really managed to achieve up until that point - have a shot - is going to help no-one. You simply cannot argue with how many goals he's scored already, and it's pretty obvious the guy is a very good player. Give him a chance, and he will surprise you. Just because he doesn't chase shadows for 90 minutes doesn't mean he's not worthy of our patience. 

Overall, yesterday showed the difference between a top side and one aspiring to that level. Ben Davies and Jose Canas & Michu played with no fear, and the rest of the squad could learn a thing or two from those boys. We shouldn't bow our heads to anyone, and need to believe in our ability to out-pass and out-think even the top sides - after all, we've enjoyed results against almost all the big teams now and if we're to succeed to any degree in Europe we'll most certainly need to show more creativity in front of goal than we did yesterday. 

That, and let's hope Ashley Williams is back sooner, rather than later. 

Highlights & match report - Crystal Palace 0 - 2 Swansea City - "It's just like watching Valencia..."

Swansea dominate in South London as feelgood factor returns to Laudrup's squad

Heading into this game I did have a quiet sense of confidence about the fixture, but I didn't anticipate it turning out like this. From the first to the last Swansea dominated and this game could have ended a lot more heavily in Swansea's favour had it not been for some profligate finishing. 

Laudrup lined his team up with Alvaro Vazquez leading the line and Bony rested, and in fairness he can have had little complaints as within two minutes Michu had put the Swans ahead. We could get used to this early goals thing! Routledge and Shelvey were heavily involved but it was Michu who fired in for his third goal in three games, all with his right foot! Unbelievable, Jeff.

The first half continued in much the same vein, if I'm honest. Palace occasionally threatened to break out but every time they were undone by a poor piece of control or a wayward finish. Swansea, on the other hand, were a lot more composed in possession, it was just their finishing that let them down. It really should have been 2-0 a lot earlier, but we had to wait until the beginning of the second half to double our lead.

At half time Palace had lost centre-half Delaney to an injury sustained in a meaty challenge on Vazquez, so they had to rely on Jedinak to fill in with no defenders on the bench. He didn't enjoy the best of starts to the second half, however, as Dyer repeated Michu's trick of firing in a goal very soon after the referee started the half. More good work...nay, excellent work from Michu saw him turn his man and play in Vazquez down the right, who got into the box before shooting from a tight angle. The rebound came back to him and he just about kept the ball in play on the byline, before squaring for Nathan Dyer to fire home. 2-0 early in the second half, and a massive uphill task for Palace from here on in, which they never looked likely to achieve.

Swansea were so comfortable in possession throughout, that it's fair to say that despite Michu's brilliance and Routledge's lung-bursting runs we rarely got out of third gear. Third gear of a currently well-oiled machine, possibly, as the Swans were working hard to create gaps and angles throughout - Ben Davies again excelled throughout and his rampaging qualities are becoming more and more marked. Time and again he burst forward and if he can maintain the enthusiasm with which he's currently playing he's going to be a top, top player.

Jose Canas had been preferred to Leon in midfield, with Shelvey alongside him, and in fairness it was another really good performance from the Spaniard. Neat and tidy in midfield, at one point he started a move, broke into a sprint then stopped dead to hold his position as a defensive midfielder. Much, much better from a man I first thought was a little wild in terms of positioning. Another great performance came from Ashley Williams, who was clearly playing through the pain barrier for the majority of the match. As long as he's not doing himself more damage, that's fine by me, and mighty impressive too. Captain Marvel, and all that.

Another example of tactical discipline came when Routledge strode forward into space, and with acres to galavant into he decided to play a simple pass backwards and retain possession instead. No doubt all the fans who were lamenting Bony against Liverpool for "not working hard enough" would have hated that, but anyone who understands the importance of possession in our system will have had a broad grin on their face. 

Swansea made good substitutions too, to keep the focus on attack and possession. De Guzman came on for Vazquez (which meant Michu went up top) while later Pozuelo replaced Dyer & Britton replaced Canas. Fan favourite Britton instantly set about showing why we love him so much, tackling anything that moved and keeping play ticking over nicely, while Palace had also made their own subs to try and get something out of the game. At half time centre-half Delaney's injury had forced them to bring on Campana, while later they brought on Dwight Gayle and Jerome Thomas for Barry Bannan & Cameron Jerome. The two later substitutes did almost fashion a decent chance between them but Gayle's effort was deflected wide.

Beyond that it seemed the result had already been accepted by both sides. For all Palace's drive they couldn't produce anything of note, while the Swans were perhaps guilty of complacency in front of goal during the closing stages, but that being said they were so comfortably retaining possession that perhaps they knew they didn't have to score again. With games coming thick and fast letting the ball do the work for 20 minutes is of massive benefit to the squad's fitness levels.

Another great win then, and on to Birmingham in the League Cup as we look to defend our cup. How mad does that sound? Awesome. Remarkably, that'll make it 6 of the last 7 matches played away from home. It's very much a case of swings and roundabouts though, as I just checked and beyond the Brum game 5 of our next 6 are at home! Given how well the team has performed in the last few matches we could be coming into form at the right time, with Arsenal, St Gallen, Sunderland, Kuban Krasnodar & West Ham all due to visit South Wales in the near future.

One last mention must go to Michu. The floppy-haired wonder seems to have added so much to his game over the summer, and his link play, which wasn't always the best last year, is massively improved. As mentioned earlier he's scored his last three goals (in three games) with his right foot, and I'd say it's fairly clear he's been getting some tuition from Laudrup. Long may it continue, as if he carries on playing like he did today he'll at least come close to matching last season's tally of goals, which will also go a long way to ensure the Swans stabilise as a mid-table Premier League club. 

Highlights & Match Report: Valencia 0 - 3 Swansea

I spent a good twenty minutes sat in front of my keyboard wondering how to start this article. The reason for my consternation is/was simply that I didn't feel I could do what I witnessed last night justice. On top of that, I watched the game in London as the minute it finished I was off to the Brixton Academy to see Soundgarden play - one of my all-time favourite bands and if you ask me, one of the best "alternative" bands in the last 30 or 40 years, so from the start the night had the potential to be very very good indeed. So, with the epic introduction suitably sidestepped, let's get on to the match itself.

It had been rumoured pre-game that the Swans would be lining up with more Spaniards in the first XI than Valencia, and so it was that SIX were selected for the club's first ever fixture against Spanish opposition - two more than the hosts. How much of that decision was tactical is debatable, but one change was forced with Jordi Amat coming in for Ashley Williams, who's picked up an ankle injury.

The game started in the manner you'd expect - the Swans tried to get comfortable and looked to retain possession, but the main talking point early on was obviously Rami's red card. Pre-match I'd mentioned one of the only players I knew anything about was Ever Banega, a tasty defensive midfielder, and serendipitously it was him who created problems for his side - his pass was blocked and then his weak header was collected by Wilfried Bony, who knocked it past Rami and looked to be in on goal. The defender couldn't resist making a challenge, and clipped the Ivorian who then went tumbling to the ground, and the referee had no hesitation in giving the centre-back his marching orders. Possibly harsh, as there was another defender coming across to cover, but you won't find any Swansea City fans complaining.

And so, with nine minutes on the clock, the Swans found themselves clear favourites to go on to win the match. With Valencia coming in on the back of their worst start to the league in 14 years they really, really could have done without that and the look of abject dismay on their players' faces when the Swans took the lead shortly afterwards says it all. They are a team bereft of confidence and they need to do something about it soon, because it simply wasn't good enough for a team like Valencia.

That's enough of that though; the Swans were well worth the three points. From the start they played expansive, patient football and Jose Canas once again dominated the midfield - ably assisted by Jonny De Guzman. OK, it's a lot easier to play against ten men but you can only play what's in front of you and it's not entirely uncommon for a team short on numbers to put in a heroic display and rescue something - not so in this case. The opener came on the break; a lovely deft touch from Bony found Pozuelo, and he in turn fed Michu who burst down the left before squaring for Bony, who'd made tracks and found space just inside the area. His powerful shot took a deflection off a despairing defender and rocketed into the net despite the flailing arms of the goalkeeper. 1-0, and the home fans were not happy, but they had worse to come.

In truth, it could and perhaps should have been both over as a contest a lot sooner, as the Swans passed up numerous good chances to put the game to bed. Nathan Dyer hooked his shot when clean through and bearing down on goal, while Bony & Michu both missed good opportunities, but while we were perhaps slightly profligate in front of goal we remained in complete control of proceedings throughout. Depending on what website you believe, we had between 65% and 68% of the possession against a team who 13 years ago contested a Champions League Final. Away. Incredible.

As it turned out, we had to wait until around the hour-mark to get the second goal which put the final nail in Valencia's coffin. Good work from Pozuelo saw him slip Michu in after some slick passing had freed up a little space, and he duly dispatched a right-footed finish past the keeper at his near post. That's two in two with his right foot - and there was me saying he didn't even know he had one!

The goal that wrapped things up neatly came four minutes later, and again it was Pozuelo who created the opportunity when his neat turn proved too cute for Banega, who fouled the Spaniard giving De Guzman a chance to test his free-kick ability. He was quickly regretting that, I'll tell you, as JDG proceeded to smash a 30 yard free-kick across goal and into the top corner. Great, great finish, and the perfect way to seal victory.

There are so many positives you can take from this match that it's almost redundant harping on about them, but for me my main hope is that Bony's performance will get some "fans" off his back. When I first saw videos of him I knew he was always liable to fall foul of the section of support who believe that unless you're sprinting around for 90 minutes, then you're no good as a footballer, but he's proving to be a bull with ballet dancer's feet - his touch in the build up to the first goal shows he's "getting his eye in" now and four goals in four European games, plus one in the league, isn't to be sniffed at, but against Liverpool I heard lots of people laying into him for, basically, being like Jason Scotland. Yeah, he was pants for us, wasn't he? Jeez.

Bony, Michu & Pozuelo seem to have a fair bit of chemistry going on between them when they're on the field together and they look like they enjoy playing alongside each other, too. I'm sure before the end of the season we'll see lots more sexy football as they continue to adjust to each other's games, and if it produces results like last nights' then Swansea City stand to have a remarkable season. We're now 5th favourites to win the Europa League, by the way...

Oh, and Soundgarden were incredible if you were wondering.

(Highlights) Swansea 2 - 2 Liverpool - Match Report

Superb second-half showing sees Swansea rescue a point against Brendan Rodgers' men

When news broke of the two teams selected by their respective managers, it seemed pretty clear we were going to enjoy an expansive, free-flowing game of football. Laudrup opted for Britton, Shelvey & Michu in central midfield while Rodgers deployed Gerrard, Henderson & Lucas, and with Shelvey in particular keen to renew acquaintances with his ex-employers it wasn't long before we saw some fireworks.

Less than two minutes had elapsed when Shelvey took a swing at a dropping ball on the edge of the Liverpool area, and the travelling fans surely started jeering their former player who'd gone on record as saying he "had a few tackles to make". Any mickey-taking was short lived, however, as the shiny-headed midfielder's scuffed effort fell kindly, allowing him to surge past debutant Mamadou Sakho, and while his first effort was blocked he managed to shift the ball onto his left foot and place a shot across Simon Mignolet into the far corner.

It was the first goal Liverpool had conceded in the league this season, but they didn't have long to wait to restore parity. With seemingly no pressure on him, Shelvey played a weak backpass which saw Daniel Sturridge steal in and tuck the ball beyond Michel Vorm. The lead was nice while it lasted...

Sadly for Shelvey, things got worse before they got better. Again, with little pressure on him he gave the ball away when trying to play a drilled pass out to Angel Rangel, who was advancing down the right wing. The direction was slightly off, however, which allowed Victor Moses (also making his debut for the Reds) to steal in and utilise the space created by Rangel's forward run to drift across Chico before firing a show in low which wrong footed Vorm before nestling in the corner of the net. 2-1, and both goals we'd conceded were absolute gifts.

It would have been very, very easy for Shelvey to disappear from the game at this point, but to his credit he carried on playing his game, and he can be thankful he had the calming influence of Leon Britton alongside him. Britton was excellent throughout tonight, and his presence was crucial in Shelvey being able to find his feet after clearly feeling the strain of giving away two goals.

Between the two Liverpool goals the Swans had, in truth, struggled to assert themselves, with Coutinho in particular looking a menace. His link play with Sturridge, Moses & the Liverpool midfield was causing the Swansea defence all kinds of problems, with Rangel in particular enjoying a particularly uncomfortable first-half. There had been a few chances - Shelvey blasted over when well placed while Bony drew a good save from Mignolet, but to be honest we spent a lot of time watching Liverpool knock the ball around much like we've become accustomed to. 

The second goal came in the 35th minute, and for a while I honestly thought this was going to be a game where two individuals would be the post-match talking points - Shelvey and referee Michael Oliver. Oliver seemed, for a while at least, to be trying to infuriate the home support and made a couple of really bizarre decisions which went in favour of the away team, but thankfully the events that unfolded in the second half ensured this was a match remembered for the football as opposed to any particular refereeing decision. 

The second half saw renewed Swansea pressure - the team seemed to have picked up on the growing sense of urgency emanating from the stands, and when Phillipe Coutinho went down injured after clashing with Ashley Williams the game swung markedly in the Swans' favour. The wee Brazilian had been integral in everything good that Liverpool had achieved and his replacement, one-time Swansea target Iago Aspas, didn't seem to understand the role he was being asked to fulfil well enough to be of any use. Jonathan De Guzman had replaced Nathan Dyer at half-time, and that too seemed to help the Swans retain possession, despite De Guzman occupying an unfamiliar wide role.

Swansea piled on more, and more, and more pressure and it didn't take long for Liverpool to crack. Some excellent build up play which was started by Shelvey saw Bony lay the ball of to Leon who dinked it forward to Shelvey, who'd continued his run into the box, and he glanced a header inside to Michu, who dispatched it past Mignolet with a cultured flick of his right boot. Yes, you read that right: his right foot. And there was me thinking he'd forgotten he had one.

The last half an hour saw the Swans wrestle control of an increasingly feisty fixture. Some late challenges from Wisdom and Henderson saw them pick up yellow cards while Shelvey and Lucas were both booked for a bit of handbags earlier on in the night. The best chance of the closing stages fell to Swansea with the momentum firmly swinging in their favour, but Jonathan De Guzman's powerful drive swung to the right of Mignolet's goal. It would have been some winner...

So, what do we make of the overall performance? After some misgivings during the first half I came away very pleased with the performance, and that's honestly the best I've seen us play at home for quite some time. I still think that playing Shelvey as one of our two deep midfielders with Michu as the CAM is asking for trouble against "bigger" teams, and I think how fluid we looked once Pozuelo replaced Bony only adds fuel to that argument. Bony & Michu did show more signs today that their partnership is developing apace, but I find myself increasingly wondering whether any "Best Swans XI" can contain both our forwards. A case of the sum of the parts being greater than the whole, perhaps?

At the back, Chico & Ash were absolutely outstanding while Davies & Rangel were both excellent. Rangel had a torrid time early on against Victor Moses but settled by the 2nd half and enjoyed a much better time of things, while Davies showed just why he's been drawing more and more attention. Time and again he linked well with Routledge, and he showed an eye for a pass on numerous occasions when looking to play in his left-sided companion.

With Britton suspended for the Valencia game it's likely we'll see him back in the team for the next league match (Crystal Palace away) but I'm hoping we'll see a midfield of Leon & Canas deep with one other midfielder ahead of them. Who that is, you can take your pick, but I think if we can first bring a bit of balance to the midfield we'll then be able to add to that formula as we look to kick on and once again improve on last season's league finish. 

A much better night's football then. Still no home win, but given how events had threatened to unfold a point was a very pleasing result indeed.