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Swansea City 2 Stoke City 0 : As it happened.
Tuesday, 27th Oct 2020 15:13 by Steph Thomas

Swansea Independent reporter Steph Thomas will be watching the game for our website tonight ready to file a match day report as soon as the game ends and indeed any significant incidents as the game progresses. Swansea City v Stoke City LIVE from the home of the swans as it looks certain Steve Cooper will make changes to Saturdays draw at Ashton Gate against Bristol City.

Preperations are nearly complete at the Liberty.

Kasey Palmer, Ryan Manning and Joel Latibeaudiere are all looking to make an impact on the game and Wayne Routledge with Cullen and reserve keeper Benda will almost certainly feature on the bench. Both managers are looking positively at the game tonight. Steve Cooper remains confident - "Stoke will always be a difficult game, regardless of maybe where they've been over the last couple of seasons. They're a highly experienced and resourced squad, and if you catch them on the wrong day, they're going to be a real handful. We'll just make sure we recover as best we can from the Bristol City game. We're at home and we'll try and put the best plan together."

Michael O’Neill said earlier - I would look at this week as having taken seven points from nine. Now we have to dust ourselves down for the Swansea game. I think very much in this league it’s a case of if you can’t win the game, make sure you don’t lose. I think that’s what we’ve shown this season. So we go to Swansea and try to make sure at the very least we don’t lose the game - but obviously we’ll go there with the intention of winning.”


Joel is up for this one. He seems excited.

Is it on TV?

Yes, the game will not be shown live on Sky Sports.
Coverage on their Arena channel begins five minutes before kick-off.
LIVE on TALK SPORT 2

What about live streaming?

The game will be streamed live on SwansTV.

Swansea City head coach Steve Cooper hands a debut to Ryan Manning as one of three changes for tonight’s meeting with Stoke City.

Manning joined the Swans from QPR on deadline day, and he slots in at left wing-back in place of Jake Bidwell.

Kyle Naughton and Yan Dhanda are also handed starting roles, taking the places of Ben Cabango and Korey Smith respectively.

Freddie Woodman starts in goal, with Naughton joining Marc Guehi and Ryan Bennett in a three-man defence.

Manning and Connor Roberts are the two wing-backs, with skipper Matt Grimes and Jay Fulton paired together in midfield.

Dhanda — making his first Championship start of the season — will take up an attacking midfield role, with Andre Ayew and Jamal Lowe operating ahead of him.

Swansea City: Freddie Woodman; Kyle Naughton, Ryan Bennett, Marc Guehi; Connor Roberts, Jay Fulton, Matt Grimes (captain), Ryan Manning; Yan Dhanda; Andre Ayew, Jamal Lowe.

Substitutes: Steven Benda, Ben Cabango, Jake Bidwell, Korey Smith, Kasey Palmer, Liam Cullen, Viktor Gyokeres.

Stoke City: Adam Davies, Morgan Fox, Sam Vokes, James McClean, James Chester, John Obi Mikel (captain), Tommy Smith, Jacob Brown, Tashan Oakley-Boothe, Josh Tymon, Harry Souttar.

Substitutes: Amgus Gunn, Danny Batth, Lee Gregory, Steven Fletcher, Jordan Cousins, Nick Powell, Tyrese Campbell.

Referee: Andre Marriner

FIRST HALF REVIEW

Ryan Manning on his debut tonight.

Swansea City started brightest and with 60% possession over the first 30 minutes and two chances for Jan Dhanda, the first which should have been a goal were wasted. The ball hammering off the post. Total dominance and technically brilliant at times with inter-passing and movement off the ball the swans pushed on in search of a goal. The non stop running of Jamal Lowe, and the clever spacial awareness of debutante Ryan Manning were a joy to watch. Inevitably the swans did score when Jay Fulton latched on to a mix up in the Stoke defence to beautifully place his shot in to the stanchion of the goal. We talk about inevitability when it comes to the swans - and once ahead the pace and agility of the side eased off and the swans dropped off, Stoke, who then had two set piece opportunities to draw level. Neither cross bothered the swans who then gradually made their way back into the game. A half yard from the penalty area saw Lowe brought down for a free kick but Matt Grimes squandered the chance. Cooper will be delighted at half time as the performance has been unquestionable and technically light years ahead of his Staffordshire opponents. The new formation tonight with Naughton, Dhanda and Manning in the starting side looked positive and pacey and after a minute of injury time the swans went in as worthy 1-0 leaders. Stoke City just haven't been in the game.


Fulton scores, its 1-0 Swansea

SECOND HALF
Swansea did not maintain the momentum at the Liberty in the second half, however that was to be expected as the technical ability of the swans was mouth watering in the first half of the game. Stoke came out ten yards further up the field and it was James Mclean who decided to stamp himself, quite literally on the swans midfield. Unfortunately for him his side did not get a shot on target throughout the game despite launching long balls in to the swans box. All were dealt with superbly by a swans defence marshalled superbly again by Ryan Bennett. The only slight worry will be his substitution for Ben Cabango and the hope will be that was tactical due to the amount of game time Bennett has had recently.

Another mix up in the Stoke defence ensured one of those back pass moments with the whole Stoke side lined up on their own goal line. Ayew saw his shot deflected for a corner as the swans started to look far more confident on the front foot. Lowe missed an opportunity to make it 2-0 and the swans had to wait until the 87th minute when a very brave Kasey Palmer got his head to the ball as Stokes replacement keeper Gunn punched him in the head. Gunn was lucky as he had already been booked for his pass back infringement and why he wasn't sent off only referee Marriner will know. On that point the referee managed the game well throughout and kept up his three bookings a game stat and Oliver Langford would do well to review his performance for his own reference. The gulf between Marriner and Langford is huge, not only in ability, but the way he took the game over and never once looked like he would affect the scoreline.

Overall this was a supreme swans performance, never looking like they would lose the game and three well thought out second half subs by Steve Cooper made sure the swans won 2-0 and sit second in the championship tonight.


Jay Fulton celebrates his goal, a magnificent finish.

Final match day stats.

Swansea City: Woodman; Naughton, Bennett (Cabango 73), Guehi; Roberts, Fulton, Grimes (C), Manning (Bidwell 73); Dhanda (Palmer 73); Ayew, Lowe.

Subs not used: Benda, Smith, Cullen, Gyokeres.

Goals: Fulton 30, Palmer 87

Yellow cards: Grimes 53, Palmer 85

Stoke City: Davies (Gunn 46); Smith, Chester, Fox (Fletcher 81); Souttar, Mikel (C), Oakley-Boothe, Tymon (Campbell 66), McClean; Brown, Vokes.

Subs not used: Batth, Gregory, Cousins, Powell.

Yellow cards: Smith 52, McClean 84

Referee: Andre Marriner

Photo: Action Images



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