It was disappointing performance from Swansea City as they went down 1-3 to Leicester City this afternoon at the swansea.com. There was expectation in the hearts of those Swans fans at the game but when tested they didn’t have the ability to take ahold and finish matters.
Despite going down to a superb goal from Jordan James in the thirteenth minute the Swans were always in this fixture. They were hampered by extremely frustrating passing in key areas when on top and the mobility of Cameron Burgess looked slightly questionable at times, especially on the ball. It was Ben Cabango who glued things together, and we also saw some attacking threat from Josh Tymon. Unfortunately the same can’t be said of Josh Key despite his efforts to link play with Ronald on the right wing. Ronald had a decent game up until his substitution in the second half often probing and attempting to out think his markers. He was obviously seen as a danger man. On the opposite side Eom worked his way into the game and had moments when he found himself able to put in a dangerous ball. Unfortunately despite the effort the Swans just didn’t have that class to finish off their pressure.
The first goal was a well struck right footed effort from Wales international, Jordan James, Cutting in on the Swans right he guided home an unstoppable effort past Vigouroux in goal. The home side didn’t let that phase them and their control did lead to more pressure in a big push for an equaliser. The build up was slow at times, again we have to make reference to Burgess, he was caught on the ball too many times and one of those instances almost led to a Leicester goal. It was too slow in the planning which meant the midfield had to recover passes that were given away, especially Franco and Stamenic having to battle it out.. There were a few murmurs pre match that Ethan Galbraith had been ‘rested’ and would come on in the second half. Sadly that only assisted Northern Ireland for their upcoming games during the international break.
Galbraith worked doggedly at times and earned a penalty for his persistence in the second half on sixty nine minutes. That was expertly slotted away by Adam Idah for his first goal for the Swans, and the game was now anyone’s to win. From there the Swans had their moments but even with Yalcouye in the mix with Inoussa they both struggled to gel. It was more about unsuccessful passes than anything else. Leicester disrupted the play and earned a second through Abdul Fatawu on seventy seven minutes. Again the Foxes exposed the Swans this time on their left, Fatawu went unchallenged and drilled another stunning shot into Vigouroux’s net. It was the equal of Jordan James effort for sure.
That rattled the Swans, they did try and get back into the game but again their slow build up play and poor passing let them down. Benson came on for Ronald (below) but again he struggled to get a foot in the game. That right sided outlet redundant now Ronald was off the pitch. The same could be said on the left flank with Eom subbed off for Inoussa, however the South Korean offered little in the second half. Vipotnik was subbed for Adam Idah but bar the goal he seemed very isolated and uncommitted to fight hard to pull back the score. When the visitors bagged their third through Vestergaard, a header which initially the Swans failed to clear it was game over.
In amongst all the angst and frustrating play by the Swans in the second half Leicester hit the post and bar three times. One a lovely placed shot from James (this time from the Swans left) which struck the inside of the post. Then a long range effort in an attempt to catch Vigouroux off his line hit the bar. Finally Vigouroux managed to parry a shot onto his post which pretty much summed up the effort the Foxes put in compared to the Swans. They were more direct and most certainly more aggressive on their flanks, with far more skill and ability when in dangerous positions. That was the difference and possibly looking into those seven minutes of injury time when Sheehan looked desperately frustrated, the Swans for four of those minutes failed to even get into their opponents half.
Commitment ?
It was all too slow and predictable again, and there were a lot of complaints as fans left the ground. It looks like Sheehan is looking for the best equation to manoeuvre his team into the perfect goal. It didn’t work today and it hasn’t worked on a few occasions this season. The perfection won’t work unless there is added aggression and pace, and this isn’t evident at this moment in time. There’s an International break now and the Swans return to action away at Southampton (12.30pm) two weeks today. That is a huge test for Sheehan.
On the game the Irishman commented, "I am disappointed. I don't want us to be a nearly team. For seventy five or eighty minutes of the game we were well in it. Two worldie goals and then a ricochet set-piece at the end and after that we lose a small piece of discipline that can change the perception. But I came in at half-time and my feeling was that 'Okay’ we are in control of a lot of areas here, can we get a bit more quality in the final third ? We get back in the game, create some decent chances and score a penalty. We bring on the attacking subs and I feel like we are getting the impetus. Then Fatawu comes inside and bends it in the top corner and the set-piece follows. If you pause it at seventy five minutes, you're probably not sure who is going to win the game. But it's a ninety minute game and I don't want to be a nearly team, so we have to go for the whole period."
Sheehan has said this before.
** We hear Ben Cabango is receiving treatment for a knock towards the end of the game.
The stats are below. First the Swans ratings.
⚽️ Swans: Lawrence Vigouroux 6 Josh Key 5 Ben Cabango 7 (C) Cameron Burgess 5 Josh Tymon 7 Marko Stamenic 6 Goncalo Franco 6 (Malick Yalcouye 82) 5 Liam Cullen 6 (Ethan Galbraith 67) 7 Ronald 7 (Manuel Benson 82) 5 Jisung Eom 6 (Zeidane Inoussa 66) 5 Žan Vipotnik 6 (Adam Idah 66) 6
Substitutes: Andy Fisher, Jay Fulton, Ishe Samuels-Smith, Kaelan Casey.
⚽️ Leicester City: Jakub Stolarczyk, Wout Faes, Jordan James (Boubakary Soumare 86), Abdul Fatawu (Silko-Amari Thomas 86), Harry Winks, Bobby Decordova-Reid (Aaron Ramsey 58), Patson Daka, Ricardo Pereira (captain) (Caleb Okoli 90), Jannik Vestergaard, Jeremy Monga (Julian Carranza 86), Luke Thomas.
Substitutes: Asmir Begovic, Jordan Ayew, Hamza Choudhury, Oliver Skipp.
⚽️ Referee: David Webb : 6/10 : He’s been a lot worse.
Attendance: 16,601
1,780 away.