Phil SumblerThe Swans were beaten for the second Saturday in succession as they gave away a goal advantage to lose at the Liberty for only the second time in the league this season. This was a painful defeat for the Swans given a complete first half dominance and having taken the lead but ultimately we paid the price for not being clinical enough in front of goal.
After two less than top notch home performances which had bought two wins I am sure there was a large element of Steve Cooper that wanted a real performance from his team who would have been buoyed by the news that Watford had been beaten earlier in the day so we knew that avoiding defeat would lift us up at least a place in the division this afternoon with our games in hand still to come.
Joel Latibeaudiere came into the Swans side taking the place of Kyle Naughton who had a place on the bench whilst for the visitors we saw Kasey Palmer in their side as he made his return to the Liberty Stadium.
As was the case with the weather, the Swans started brighter and showed what appeared to be an increase in attacking intent in the opening exchanges and a couple of early chances failed to really test the visiting keeper but suggested that this maybe a better performance ahead.
Jamal Lowe came the closest to opening the scoring inside the first 15 minutes when he made space for himself after some good work by Ayew but his powerful shot was parried over for a corner. The Swans were definitely getting more on top as a couple of half hearted penalty appeals and some long shots were causing increased concern in the visitors penalty area and it was seemingly only a matter of time until the Swans would create the chance that would break the deadlock.
Another good Swans move saw Dhanda shoot straight at the keeper as he burst in on goal but it was the end of a good move and one that had certainly been lacking in recent weeks. And these kind of moves you could see were increasing the confidence flow in the Swans and it was from another good move that Hourihane found a shot on target from outside the box but again not able to find a way past the Robins goalkeeper.
As the game ticked towards the half hour match a glance at the match stats was telling a story with the Swans at 73% possession and more than 200 passes in the opening third of the game with shots on target already doubling what we managed in 90 minutes midweek against Coventry.
Bristol City though were gradually getting themselves into the game and pushing higher up the pitch causing some work in the Swansea defence but Woodman was still very much a spectator with the back line in front of them doing their job with some ease.
On 40 minutes it looked for all money as if Bidwell was about to open the scoring for the Swans as Roberts drove in a low cross across goal but Hunt managed to scramble it away for a corner. From that corner Cabango looked as if he had opened the scoring but his shot was cleared off the line.
The Swans were pressing hard now and another Hourihane chance from a header was well saved by the visiting keeper as the Swans looked to make the best period of pressure count as we moved to half time.
You felt that Bristol City were really feeling the Swans pressure now as they conceded some cheap free kicks towards the end of the half but somehow they reached the halfway stage of the game with their goal intact and the scoreboard still showing no goals for either side. 76% possession and 12 shots at goal to 0 told the story of the half though, it was now up to the Swans to make sure that they didn’t regret those missed chances in the first half.
Unsurprisingly there were no changes for the Swans at half time and we started the second half the way we had ended the first – on the offensive but without the intensity of the last ten minutes of the half where the visitors defence was under severe pressure.
The Swans were gifted the chance to open the scoring though in the 55th minute when a long cross ball towards Bidwell was inexplicably handled by former Swan Kasey Palmer in the area and Keith Stroud did not hesitate to point to the spot. One thing that doesn’t happen often is an Ayew penalty miss and there wasn’t to be one today as he found the corner of the goal to give the Swans a deserved lead as we went in search of another home win.
The goal though did see the Swans move slightly onto the back foot for a period although some of that was forced by Bristol City showing more attacking intent as they had to now they had a goal deficit to chase. And the equaliser arrived in the 65th minute when Vyner managed to evade a challenge from Guehi and his ball into the middle was expertly finished by Wells who found the bottom corner with the visitors first meaningful shot of note. Despite our dominance in the game we were now back on level terms and needing to do it all again. Doubly frustrating when you consider just how hard we had to work to earn the lead that we gave it away so easily by dropping onto the back foot.
Bristol City were now on the ascendency and for the first time in the game the Swans were under real pressure as they looked to avoid a second home defeat of the season. The second half was beginning to take a pattern that the first never developed.
That said it looked as if Guehi was about to give the Swans the lead but his close range header was blocked and cleared by the visiting defence and the score remained level. Steve Cooper replaced Yan Dhanda with Jay Fulton with just under 15 minutes left as he looked for his midfield to try and get back into a game that we were slowly becoming second best in.
And that second best became 2-1 down in the 79th minute when Bristol City took the lead from a corner. And it was a clear mistake from Freddie Woodman that cost us the goal when he allowed Palmer’s delivery to go over his head and into the back of the net, another exceptionally poor goal for the Swans to concede and at 2-1 down we were definitely being punished for the chances we missed in the first half. 2 shots on target and 2 goals was the stark statistic that showed us 2-1 down.
Steve Cooper immediately responded to send on Paul Arriola and the American could – and should – have equalised with his first touch but he was only able to blaze well over from a cushioned header from Bidwell. Morgan Whittaker was next to be introduced into the play when he replaced Latibeaudiere as we went in search of the equaliser that the overall balance of play would deserve.
The afternoon was summed up by a third Bristol City goal in the last minute of stoppage time when a deflection from a Woodman clearance looped up and found the back of the net as the keeper was closed down. It kind of just said it all as Woodman hesitated with a clearance when we needed a goal. Not really sure what else can be said at this stage.
This time last week we were heavily beaten at Huddersfield on an afternoon where we did not compete. This afternoon we lost a game that we completely dominated for 45 minutes through our inability to convert the first half chances we created and through poor defensive lapses.
What is clear at the moment is that the strong form that saw us through the Norwich game has now deserted us and Steve Cooper is possibly facing the biggest challenge of his time at Swansea to turn it around. We are very much in the promotion hunt but it needs to be a big step up in performance to remain in the promotion hunt. Every side is likely to have a period during the season where football becomes hard and this is definitely ours. Four pretty poor games on the trot should set some alarm bells ringing and we have to stop hoping that we can bounce back in the next game and actually start bouncing back.
70% possession, 21 shots to 7, 9 on target to 3 but it all means nothing when you gift the opposition 3 goals.
This one hurt. And I hope it hurts the players as much, if it did it may just make the difference at Stoke.
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