Swansea City slumped to their sixth defeat in nine games since exiting the FA Cup to Bristol City in mid January this afternoon at the Swansea.com stadium. Middlesbrough were one down at half time but whatever was going through the Swansea players minds in the second half is beyond comprehension. A Jay Fulton goal ruled out for office started the drama as Boro made short work of a poor Swansea defence.
A cold and wet Swansea.com stadium was the setting for this afternoons fixture between the Swans and Boro. A dominant Boro took advantage of a Joel Latibeaudiere mistake after two minutes which was frantically cleared. The Swans looked so open on their right with Matt Sorinola exposed when Chuba Akpom fired a shot wide from an Aaron Ramsey pass.
Then it was the visitors turn to over pass at the back leaving Oli Cooper with a decent half chance and his shot just went wide. Cooper almost looked surprised to receive the ball. It was an open game with Boro looking to expose the Swans pedestrian midfield and erratic defence this season. For the first ima at a Swans home game the visitors took control of the passing and slow build up. Swansea stood off and didn’t look for any press which has often worked for their opposition this season.
It allowed Boro to build and again the exposed right side of the Swans defence as a rally of shots flew towards the Swans goal, fortunately the score remained 0-0. Despite Martin screaming to press higher from the touchline the Swans didn’t choosing to play their own passing game much the same as the visitors. Against this type of opposition it was bound to be found out. A silly mistake at the back on ten minutes by Jay Fulton saw Chuba Akpom’s shot spin out wide but nothing came from the corner.
Again Boro pushed on seeking out holes in the Swans defence, Ben Cabango slid in on an opportunity when it looked as though an effort on goal could prove productive. Every time Middlesbrough went forwards they looked sharp and had the extra man. Then a Matt Grimes opportunity to shoot was ignored he lasted to Luke Cundle who squared for Ryan Manning whose shot deflected in to the path of Joel Piroe who tapped home the opening goal.
Swansea City 1 Middlesbrough 0.
Confidence seemed to come back in to some of the home sides play, Ryan Manning’s free kick wasn’t capitalised on by Nathan Wood and all of a sudden we saw a high Swansea press. Joel Piroe looked impressive on the ball in the visitors area who despite claims had returned nine hundred tickets for the game. Ryan Manning had a lovely shot well saved by xxxx in the Boro goal from a decently worked corner, and Oli Cooper started to run matters in midfield. It wasn’t a dominant Swansea but it was a competent home side. The high press was working, Middlesbrough giving the ball away as the midfield ping pong battle increased.
Middlesbrough are a very confident and well drilled side, make no mistake to get to the halfway point of the first forty five one goal ahead was a massive improvement on recent weeks. Luke Cundle again refused to take a shot when he should have, his pass poor to Joel Piroe. On the break a fierce cross shot from Boro was fumbled by Andy Fisher as it fizzed towards him. The danger though was cleared. Boro pressed on managing their passing game well. Niggly fouls were creeping in to the visitors play, the first signs of frustration as the Swans matched them as the half wore on. However you had the feeling Middlesbrough were confident they would claw this game back. McGree had a cross shot saved by Fisher, and the Swans defence again looked narrow and over exposed.
The referee seemed very keen to play in to the visitors hands awarding free kicks and conveniently missing moments like a blatant foul on Fulton. Smith and McGree combined well on forty minutes but the Swans defence swamped them with no shot taken. The Swans were fighting for every ball, at times out muscled but determined. It resulted in a Piroe shot which was easily saved. But in this game we were seeing hope, we were seeing some fight. Another corner for Boro ( fifth ) on forty three minutes was poorly headed by McNair, and some of the Boro contingent actually booed their team, now there’s a thing. Middlesbrough were not to be denied another opportunity when McGree lazily shot straight at Fisher. The confident Boro build up play continued but on forty six minutes the half ended.
Olivier Ntcham coming on for Cooper at half time will have surprised a few but the midfield needed more robustness, however Cooper had played a great first half. Ntcham battled his way through on forty nine minutes but was crowded out. The Swans looked to retain their confidence with some good passing. Cundle broke free and released Manning and his shot went for a corner. From the corner the Swans scored but the lineman raised his flag for an alleged offside. An odd decision as the game progressed we would see a few more.
What looked like a clear offside on fifty three minutes for Boro resulted in an equaliser after Ramsey sneaked in a shot off Fisher’s far post. Grimes back tracked but couldn’t prevent the goal. It was short change for the Swans who had dominated the half to date. Again the defending was in question for Swansea. Middlesbrough pressed forwards and started to look dangerous. Giles the main tormentor. More awful defending from Ntcham and a stationary Fisher let in Archer for a free header and a second, it was atrocious defending.
Swansea City 1 Middlesbrough 2
From a position of dominance the Swans were down in the game and looking ragged. The fifty fifty balls were being won by Boro. More appalling misses by the linesman saw Boro in for a third when obviously offside. The side netting his target. All Swansea could do was contribute to poor loose passing as the game hit sixty minutes. Hackney in the visitors midfield continued to leave his foot in on challenges unchecked by the referee. Akpo had a chance but shot at Fisher and the Swans seemed to lack any pace. They did though have a willing outlet in Manning who despite getting in to space couldn’t create a chance. A lovely cross shot by Grimes saw Swansea’s front men short on pace when a tap in could have drawn the game even. Sorinola the guilty party on this occasion.
More Swansea subs on sixty eight minutes saw Jamie Paterson on for Luke Cundle. To say Paterson had a muted reception is an understatement, but then behaviour breeds behaviour. Ramsey decided to have some handbags with Harry Darling off the pitch, so more cards being shown to players or people. Paterson tried to answer his critics with a shot which was parried away for a corner. The corner was headed wide by Nathan Wood. Loose balls were falling to Boro though as Ntcham cut short a pass out from the back. Then Ramsey crossed in to the Swans area and for whatever reason Latibeaudiere brought down Macgree, Akpom scored from the sport and it was game over.
Swansea City 1 Middlesbrough 3.
The game then petered out as Boro looked to hit the Swans on the break to no avail and the home side clearly lacking any pace when they did get forward. Millwall away are next up for Swansea on Tuesday night, hardly a game which many will look forward to given the respective clubs league positions.
Swansea City: Fisher 4 ; Cabango,5 Wood, 6 Latibeaudiere;3 Sorinola 4 (Whittaker 83), Fulton,5Grimes (C),6; Manning; 6 Cooper 6 (Ntcham 46), Cundle 5 (Paterson 70); Piroe.6
Subs not used: Sondergaard, Darling, Walsh, Cullen.
Goal: Piroe 15
Yellow cards: 🟨 Latibeaudiere 57, Darling 73, Fulton 82 : Darling booked and he didn’t even get on the pitch !
Middlesbrough: Steffen; Smith, McNair, Lenihan, Giles; Howson (C), Hackney; Ramsey (Bola 90+2), Akpom (Finch 90+2), McGree (Mowatt 90+2); Archer (Forss 77).
Subs not used: Roberts, Barlaser, Dijksteel.
Goals: Ramsey 54, Archer 58, Akpom 77
Yellow card: 🟨 Ramsey 73
Attendance: 17,021
Referee: Peter Bankes 4/10 : Only he knows why he is a referee.