It was the same old story for the early kick off against Bristol City. Mistakes leading to goals, limited crossing power, periods of domination with no end result and to cap it all off when chances were made no ability to finish.
Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber asked for fire and he certainly got it but the Swans aided them with some poor ball retention that led to the Robins goal on four minutes. The goal came from a corner on the Swans right which was very well delivered by Anis Mehmeti for captain Robert Dickie to expertly flick a header into Vigouroux’s net with little effort. It was straight off the training ground.
The Swans provided little in response bar more poor decision making on the ball and no clear cut chances as we hit the ten minute mark. It was clear what the intention was but Ronald on the right and Eom on the left were being squeezed out leading to further losses of the ball. The home side were seeing plenty of space out wide, conversely Ronald wasn’t as he tried to beat his marker and falling foul of the offside laws. His control was looking very suspect.
The Robins were happy to control the game with a much better example of ball retention.
The first real Swansea effort came from Liam Cullen working an opening after good work from Josh Key. That led to the first corner of the game for Swansea. Galbraith fouled his opponent and the danger was quickly cleared. Cullen’s shot was a good example of taking a shooting opportunity early. He always comes back from Wales camps with fire in his belly.
On eighteen minutes a lovely move between Key and Ronald saw a well delivered cross which seemed okay at first sighting - but caught Idah offside as his two efforts to put the ball away failed. It was promising. What was noticeable (at times) was Marko Stamenic - his link play in midfield and tenacity in the tackle reflected what we had been missing of late. Ronald continued to get into decent positions but his crossing was blocked. After we passed the half way mark in the half the Swans upped the pace and very nearly levelled had it not been for a great save from Robins keeper Vitek. Samuel-Smith put in a low cross for Idah, his shot was at a good height but it was well saved.
It really did sum up the season for Swansea.
Kaelan Casey crazily gave the ball away on twenty nine minutes, a shocking back pass to Vigouroux led to Cameron Burgess clearing. That meant a few minutes of pressure from the home side. Another great cross from Mehmeti on thirty one minutes was met at the far post by Riis with Vigouroux clearly out of position, that allowed a sucker punch second goal. That was very much down to Vigouroux and there will have to be a form of examination of his positioning for the first goal as well. The Swans still seemed to want to stick to their game plan, obviously when they weren’t repeatedly giving the ball away or making dangerous moments which resulted in more crosses from Ronald which were always blocked. They persevered.
Samuel-Smith was joining in with the giving the ball away competition. He wasn’t winning but he was up there. On thirty nine minutes Adam Idah burst forwards and ran half the length of the pitch to only be caught into minds between a cross and a shot with Cullen in space. As the home side faltered the Swans took advantage of their own errors. What has to be said the scoreline wasn’t reflective of the hard work Swansea were putting in.
On forty one minutes a good cross in from Key met Cullen in space and with time, he shot but his effort sailed well over the bar. The Swans had made chances and given away opportunities but the warning came with two minutes to go with a powerful shot from Riis which just went over Vigouroux’s bar. With a minute of extra time announced a good move by the Swans saw Ronald take a shot on which the Robins keeper saved, the rebound fell to Key who couldn’t turn it home and if you ever want a season encapsulated in one move that was it. The Swans had created four good chances to score in this half, they hadn’t taken any of the them and now went in at half time two goals down.
The Swans started the second half rapidly if not a bit frantically. Cullen was linking well with Eom and a set piece and a good shot on goal from Cullen was well saved. What was also good to see was Burgess getting forwards and contributing to these dangerous moments. We were again seeing Ronald attempting to cross but his first effort of the half was blocked. This after an exquisite ball down the line from Key. On fifty one minutes we did see what Roanld is all about before Adam Randall hauled him back, he was booked. Eom took the free kick, unfortunately it was taken short and ended up back with Vigouroux. This game was now very open. Stamenic despite his hard work was finding it hard to retain the ball but we were seeing a better Swansea City.
A lovely move by the Swans saw Eom with a chance to shoot on goal, he did but it was blocked and went out for a corner that was cleared. The Swans were now in charge. Some wonderful passing resulted in a second corner. That went to Galbraith eventually but his shot was wide. It was promising. Good work by Idah saw another shooting opportunity for Cullen bet he fell back as he did so. Bristol City were clearly concerned at the domination of play and on fifty eitght minutes made a double substitution, what followed was a soft shot from the home side. The travelling Jacks in excellent numbers continued to dominate the atmosphere as a triple substitution was now being made from the sidelines. First a Robins corner from the Swans right. A pathetic dive in the area was ignored by the referee but no simulation punishment.
On sixty three minutes a wonderful save by Vigouroux from Armstrong after a good cross in from Sykes and the Swans were still trying to prevent a third home goal. Stamenic was off for Franco, Eom off for Inoussa and Vipotnik on for Cullen who had an excellent game. That saw more firepower up front for the Swans now a deeper laying Cullen was off the pitch and Vipotnik a more attacking option. It had been a good six minutes since we saw the Swans in attack as Samuel -Smith was replaced by Ricardo Santos making his debut. Franco spoilt a decent chance of changing matters by fouling his opponent in attack.
Strong challenges were all being waved away.
Again Franco let his side down by losing the ball on the edge of the area, he was still getting into the game but we only had twenty minutes to go. Two more Robins subs were now on. Scott Twine and Borges off. A dangerous free kick from a foul on Franco was flicked on but again the finishing was lacking. A lovey ball in from Galbraith saw a fifth Swans corner on their left. The cross was very poor leading to a break by the home side. The Swans were now pressing high which was leaving space in defence.
The Robins were now slowing the game down and utilising the usual falling down tactics. With twelve minutes left Josh Key was off for Jay Fulton. Melker Widell remained on the bench. After that Bristol City had a corner which was easily dealt with. We were now within those minutes where a Swans goal was desperately needed. Casey and Burgess were now operating far higher up the field. The spaces being left were now going to clinch the game for Bristol City and so it happened. A breakaway as the Swans pushed for a goal on eighty one minutes pretty much put paid to the Swans getting anything from this game. They did persist but pretty much as the rest of this game and any other this season nothing came of their efforts.
At the end Darren O’Dea failed to acknowledge the Swansea support, good riddance mate for me you were always a part of the problem. Rumours of a four year contract for incoming head coach Vitor Matos with staff to come in as well circulated after the game. The Swans are in desperate times, so we have to reflect that Matos coming in is a part of desperate measures to prevent a full on relegation battle this season.
Including Vitor Matos there will be four new arrivals tomorrow evening at the Swans. Diogo Medeiros, Tozé Mendes and Gonçalo Ricca are believed to be coming with him. He will take charge of training on Monday by all accounts.
⚽️ Robins : Radek Vitek, Ross McCrorie (Mark Sykes 58), Adam Randell, Scott Twine (Yu Hirakawa 71), Anis Mehmeti, Zak Vyner, Rob Dickie (C) Emil Riis (Jason Knight 58), George Tanner, Neto Borges (Haydon Roberts 71) Sinclair Armstrong (Fally Mayulu 84)
Substitutes: Max O'Leary, Cameron Pring, Elijah Morrison, Olly Thomas.
Referee: Josh Smith 7/10: Let it all play itself out. A very decent official today.
⚽️ Swans : Lawrence Vigouroux 5 Josh Key 7 (Jay Fulton 77) 5 Marko Stamenic 7 (Goncalo Franco 65) 5 Eom 6; (Zeidane Inoussa 65) 4 Cameron Burgess 6 (C) Ishe Samuels-Smith 5 (Ricardo Santos 68) 5 Liam Cullen 8 (Zan Vipotnik 65) 5 Kaelan Casey 6 Ethan Galbraith 7 Adam Idah 7 Ronald 6
Substitutes: Andy Fisher, Melker Widell, Malick Yalcouye, Manuel Benson.