It was another tale of injury time sleepiness coupled with a level of officiating you have to question especially when a clear push on Marko Stamenic at the death which somehow his assistant and the referee ignored.
The Swans started well with a style of domination which we have come to expect from this talented Swansea squad. Inoussa was a constant threat over the half with Ethan Galbraith playing in his own Inimitable style after easing himself into this fixture. Stamenic always looked competent and solid but the stand out player in the Swans midfield in the first half was Malick Yalcouye. Despite his slight frame the nineteen year old was everywhere stamping himself on the game, Having come in for Gonçalo Franco the Brighton youngster took up the challenge . With Franco on the bench and Meleker Widell not considered the side selected by head coach, Alan Sheehan was still good enough to win this game.
It was a lovely move on twelve minutes with Ronald proving another assist, Vipotnik flicked the ball between keeper, Steven Benda and his defender to put the Swans one up. It wasn’t as if the home side had then settled for that. Chances for Galbraith which sailed just past the post, another for Vipotnik, then Tymon grazed the post as they looked to really put pressure on the Lions. Nothing was wrong, everything was working but as the half drew to a close Millwall first had a golden chance to score. Ben Cabango making a remarkable tackle to prevent a tap in. However, it had to happen. It was injury time, big clue. A free kick given to Millwall out on the Swans right in front of the east stand was delivered deep and flicked back across the Swans goal. The ball looped in favour of Millwall and Coburn rose to score.
This was the fourth time in four games that the Swans had conceded a goal in injury time. We’ve mentioned it before … No matter peoples excuses for this or taking it as a personal insult on behalf of Alan Sheehan, this just isn’t right. Conceding on so many occasions which in the league has cost home points is now more than concerning. That’s three times at home, Hull City, Forest and now today plus last weekend at the death in Birmingham. These are precious points that are being thrown away due to whatever it is that’s preventing Swansea City to kill off or defend the last minutes of games.
The second half can only be summed up as coming to life after seventy five minutes, the Swans looked directionless for long periods, unable to find any rhythm much as we saw last week in the second half at Birmingham. Ronald had a decent opportunity but blasted over the bar and we were yet to see Vipotnik inches away from prodding home a second. Thereafter we saw Adam Idah’s tap in ruled out for kicking the ball out of Benda’s hands, it looked a close one. Some irrational viewpoints from referee, Dean Whitestone and a finale which really should have seen the Swans win this game.
These are issues of course, but it isn’t so much the way the Swans play unless you include some periods of play which still seems to go nowhere at times. The amount of chances created and goals scored to finish off teams could be mentioned as well as this closed mindset to conceding goals. But it’s a positive the Swans are still to lose at home this season even though the defence is still to be questioned. And that’s with Ben Cabango in there with a player who was playing games in the Premier League last season in Cameron Burgess. We all see it, and we all hope that Sheehan and his staff can do something about it.
We cannot forget this ruthless business minded approach to the Swans by majority owners, Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen. These are precarious times but there’s absolutely no need for anyone to lose their jobs at the swansea.com despite social media overreacting. Players like Widell and Manuel Benson need more exposure but of course you can only fit so many in a starting eleven or a squad. Bobby Wales seems out of favour but the same scenario fits him too. A more gentle season for him unless injuries hit the side, the under 21’s could see him feature more.
⚽️ Dean Whitestone : The referee for this fixture allowed niggly fouls to go unpunished, Jake Cooper a persistent offender. His game management was poor you just couldn’t work out what he was going to do when he blew his whistle. Overall it was a bizarre performance from him, the foul on Stamenic was an awful decision. Another key point in a game of football for Swansea as we saw for Vipotnik’s goal last week. However, that doesn’t take away those sleepy moments. We move on to Blackburn Rovers away on Tuesday evening (7:45pm) and hope the pressure is off more away from home.
⚽️ Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux 6 Josh Key 7 Ben Cabango (C) 8 Cameron Burgess 6 Josh Tymon 6 Marko Stamenic 7 Malick Yalcouye 8 (Adam Idah 80) 5 Ethan Galbraith 7 Ronald 6 (Manuel Benson 72) 5 Zeidane Inoussa 8 Žan Vipotnik 8
Unused Substitutes: Andy Fisher, Jay Fulton, Jisung Eom, Ishe Samuels-Smith, Goncalo Franco, Liam Cullen, Kaelan Casey.
⚽️ Millwall: Steven Benda, Tristan Crama, Jake Cooper (captain), Tierno Ballo (Camiel Neghli 68), Ryan Leonard, Josh Coburn (Mihailo Ivanovic 78), Massimo Luongo, Aidomo Emakhu (Ra'ees Bangura-Williams 88), Joe Bryan, Will Smallbone (Macaulay Langstaff 68), Derek Mazou-Sacko (Billy Mitchell 78).
Unused Substitutes: Maxime Crocombe, Zak Sturge, Caleb Taylor, Wes Harding.
⚽️ Referee: Dean Whitestone : 1/10 Tragic officiating from beginning to end. We give him 1 point for getting someone to dress him properly before the game
Attendance: 14,952