It wasn’t the hardest of tests, and an indifferent Millwall who have had an inconsistent start to the season provided the Swans with little resistance this afternoon. However that’s three games undefeated, one goal conceded and seven scored. The Swans move up to nineteenth in the Sky Bet Championship. Below is everything you need on the game. The report, stats, and much more.
Today we saw a different Swansea City to what we have seen on the road so far this season. More controlled and definitely more composed on the ball despite a string of injuries with Kristian Pedersen added to the huge injury list before kick off. That aside the Swans were comfortable in the first half earning a 1-0 half time lead through a Jamal Lowe penalty. Jerry Yates was pulled back in the area his short clearly tugged as he fell to the ground.
Cheered on by a decent near full lower tier in the away North Stand the Swans dominated possession but worked very little bar that penalty effort. To be honest Millwall did even less over the first forty five. Michael Duff would have been delighted in the face of the resistance that the home side gave. Starting with Liam Cullen and Lowe out wide andYates in the middle of a front three (ish) the midfield had little trouble in controlling the game.
What surprised me more than anything this afternoon was the shocking language in the home stand from the home supporters to everything they perceived to be wrong. Every action on the pitch was met with appalling abuse from people of all ages, the referee their main target as he was perceived the bad guy for their sides continual petty fouling. It really is an unpleasant environment. And earns their side no advantage. You can sense their frustrations as the Lions were booed off at half time, but really, none of the abuse is necessary.
You would expect the referees report to contain the bottle throwing incident at Swansea players when Lowe slotted his penalty home.
The second half was much better for Millwall, although their execution in front of goal was poor. They had two excellent opportunities to pull the goal back before Matt Grimes drifted forwards unchallenged and fired in a fierce shot which bounced under Millwall keeper Bialkowski. Even then Millwall pushed forwards and Swansea really didn’t look comfortable as changes were made by Duff. Going to a back five things looked less ropey. Mykola struck with his first goal of the season, a guided header after a good Swansea move in front of the travelling Jack Army. Next up it’s Norwich City at home on Wednesday and that feel good factor just keeps on increasing.
Millwall: Bialkowski; Leonard, J.Cooper, Wallace (McNamara 80); Norton-Cuffy (Esse 46), De Norre, Campbell (Emakhu 70), Longman (Bryan 46); Flemming (Saville 80); Nisbet, Watmore
Subs: Trueman, Mitchell, Honeyman, Harding
Swansea City : Rushworth; 7 Key, 6 Cabango, 7 Darling, 7 Humphreys; 5 Grimes (c), 6 Patino 6 (Fulton 70); 5 Cullen 4 (Cooper 78), 5 Paterson 6 (Tymon 63), 6 Lowe; 8 Yates 6 (Kuharevich 46) 7
Subs: Fisher, Naughton, Walsh, Ashby, Congreve
Goals : Lowe (23' minutes pen), Grimes (57' minutes), Kukharevych (79' minutes)
Referee : John Busby 7/10: Didn’t miss much and wasn’t intimidated by the crowd whatsoever.
MOM : Jamal Lowe : Excellent composure again from the penalty spot, wasn’t fazed by the role he played. Willing runner.
Att : 14,803
Away : 977
Match rating : 6/10 : The Swans were not totally convincing despite the scoreline. They looked edgy at times and a better side would have tested them far more, especially with this disorganised back four. It looked better with the defensive switches. The injuries are mounting up though, Yates was subbed at half time with a dead leg. Two wins and two clean sheets though are very, very welcome.