Two new writers join us on the Indy, Rhys Clayton and Olle Soderholm, these are their first contributions to the Indy but what a time to join in ! An emphatic display by the Swans on a Sunday afternoon with more goals scored than in any game this season. An unfortunate Sheffield Wednesday are almost resigned now to League One.

It could even be next weekend.

⚽️ Rhys Clayton -
The home team were competent, professional, and cruised in third gear. The visiting team weren't given a hope, showed effort but without any threat, and their awful run continues. No, I'm talking about England v Wales, I'm talking about the Swans completing a first ever league double over Sheffield Wednesday. 4-0 does not flatter us, but what else did we learn? Here are six takeaways from today's game:

1. Matos feels at home
Matos is making the Swansea.com a fortress. That's six wins in seven games at home, contributing to the equal-most wins in the division since the start of December. That's not to say our away performances have been bad - last week's win at Watford had been coming. But today we showed that we can play on the front foot, move the ball forward at pace, and dominate weaker teams. I thought Wednesday actually competed well for the first 15 minutes, and it looked like it could be a toiling afternoon. But the first goal was a thing of beauty, and could have split apart many better teams. From Vigouroux to Franco was 10 touches in total, which shows how precise and cutting some of our play can be. The cross from Tymon was delicious.

2. It will end, but not today
Between June 2022 and July 2023, Ben Stokes lost 9 tosses in a row. He finally won a toss in the third Ashes Test at Headingley, which England won, after losing the opening two Tests. Which is all to say, even if it seems a streak will keep going forever, probability and sport dictate that it doesn't. Sheffield Wednesday will score again this season. But for now it is nine games without a league goal for the first time in their history. Hands up, who thought they would break the duck against us? And who thought it would be Jerry Yates? That they did not have a sniff all game (an xG of 0.05 tells its own story) is a testament to the attitude, controlled play, and work ethic of the Swans.

3. Sunday always comes too late
It's very rare that you get a relaxing game as a Swans fan. Not often are we so in command against such passive opposition. And I have seldom read such respect and sympathy for opposition fans on social media, which I wholeheartedly concur with. Therefore it is no surprise that the atmosphere yesterday afternoon was far from ferocious, with many fans seemingly enjoying the controlled football in the pleasant sunshine. But for some reason, I much prefer a Sunday midday kick-off to the early Saturday slot. There is just a different feeling to playing after most teams compared to playing before. Most Swans fans were probably already adding the three points to our tally yesterday in the imaginary league table, and since we aren't fully out of the relegation picture, every game involving teams below us and up to Wrexham had an interest for us. Anyway, Swans fans should get used to this random fixture list. Our last home Saturday 15:00 kick-off was 6th December v Oxford, and our next one will be a full three months later on March 7th!

Game's gone.

4. The Lusophone linkups
Our Portuguese speaking players (Lusophone is the right term, and yes, I had to look that up) combined for a little dance routine (below) which was may well be a bit over the top, considering the opposition (someone call the Celebration Police) but all three showed good moments in this game. Franco was busy and hardworking as always, and got a deserved goal. Ronald had one of his better games, and enjoyed the freedom the Wednesday defence gave him. And Nunes continued his positive start. After about 30 minutes, Ronald and Nunes swapped wings, which is something we have not seen much with Ronald and Eom. Eom has done well under Matos, but he loves cutting in onto his right foot and looking to curl the ball into the far post. This option is not available on the right wing, which might explain why he is reluctant to switch flanks. In the 63rd minute, Nunes linked well with Ronald to tee him up, and he should have done better with his effort. Considering the lack of tangible contributions from all our midfield this season, Nunes almost setting up his opposite winger in only his third game is a very good sign. I think Matos will stick with Ronald and Nunes for Derby, but with Eom and Key on the bench, who did well again when coming on, suddenly we have four good options on the wings.

5. Zan the Man!
Vipotnik is now three clear at the top of the goalscoring charts (curiously, two of the other top four are ex-Swans, Oli McBurnie and Morgan Whittaker). We will likely lose him in the summer, so the Sky cameras displaying his phenomenal free-kick will hopefully add a few million to that figure. In over two decades of watching the Swans, I have never seen a player hit the ball more powerfully than Vipotnik. He showed this ability in glimpses last season, memorably against Derby away with a thunderbolt shot, but this season he has added consistency and nous. As ex-Wales striker Nathan Blake said during the week, he is a unique striker. He doesn't look for contact, but he is strong and is never bullied off the ball. His movement is smart, he always puts a shift in, and is very efficient (he is massively overperforming his xG). Sheffield Wednesday started with Jerry Yates and Jamal Lowe, who were leading the line for the Swans until very recently, which is to say, let's enjoy Vipi while we can. Another thunderbolt away to Derby next week would be lovely, wouldn't it ?

6. Steady On
Quite a few Swans fans were getting a bit giddy on social media after today. Yes, five points off 6th place sounds lovely, but our next five fixtures are very tough. Infamously for a while under Sheehan, our only wins were against teams in the relegation places at time of fixture. I didn't like the fact that this was used as a stick to beat Sheehan, as none of those wins were walkovers, and each performance had its merits, however I think it is not unfair to say that we have struggled against top-six teams for quite a few seasons now. Apart from Welsh Derbies, there have been few statement wins in recent memory. I think this was why the Watford win last week produced such a reaction - it is not often we beat a genuine promotion contender away from home. Matos has done extremely well so far, but the next five games will really test the new regime, and dictate whether we are looking up or down again come mid-March.

⚽️ Honourable mentions:
- Josh Key scored one goal, and he turns up with a headband like prime Totti
- Jerry Yates was replaced by Bruno Fernandes today - that's not a sentence you thought you would ever read, eh ?
- Well done to Malick Yalcouyé for a lovely first Swans goal. But the flailing fist bumps to the East Stand were shocking! Must. Do. Better.

⚽️ Olle Soderholm
Sunday afternoon saw the Swans host a sinking Sheffield Wednesday in the midst of what is Matos’ play off push. It took around 15 minutes for Swansea to really take control of the game, but once they did they never let Wednesday back in. The counter pressing was extremely effective, as the swans regained possession very quickly after losing the ball, essentially nailing Wednesday to their own half. This showed in the statistics, as the first half ended with 68% possession in favor of the home team. Franco opened the scoring after some beautiful build up play, culminating in a signature Tymon cross which found Franco at the other end for an easy tap-in. From this point the first half saw Swansea remaining in control and pushing for the killing blow, but without finding it. A concern in previous fixtures under Matos have been the inability to finish off games cleanly, often leaving some drama at the end. The second half, however, would silence those woes.

The second half was more of the same, Swansea trying to find that final nail in the coffin. The subs of Fulton and Yalcouye brought some more control and especially Yalcouye provided a lot of energy. The second goal finally came after a great through ball from Tymon. That eventually led to Yalcouye creating a free kick right outside of the penalty area. Vipotnik’s rocket flew right over the Wednesday keeper's head, not giving him a chance to react. With that goal the game was sealed, but Swansea kept coming at them. Vipotnik found another solid goal and Yalcouye finally got a well earned first Swansea goal after a good run and brilliant finish.

Overall Swansea played a good game with control and good pressing, just what Vitor Matos’ style of play entails. The only critiques I would raise are the two unnecessary yellows in the first half form Cabango and Stamenic and perhaps that we didn’t seel the game earlier, but these are minor spots on a very well executed Swansea performance. Beating Wednesday was expected but can hopefully serve as confidence booster going in to a run of fixtures that will be crucial in the hunt for play-offs.

⚽️ Set pieces: Under Matos Swansea has become a real threat from set pieces, scoring almost all of those under Matos’ reign (depends on how Opta counts it which I don’t know). It’s clear the team has drilled some new variants and a lot of them are creating chances. For example, in the first half a Tymon free kick found Cullen on an unexpected run, with the ball eventually finding the crossbar.
We’ve also seen a particular corner routine being used a few times now. The ball comes in towards the first post, finding a player that tries to steer it to the far post, with runners coming in for an easy tap-in. Stamenic scored from this variant against Watford and we seem to be sticking to it.

⚽️ Player reflections:

Gustavo Nunes: The Brazilian had his first start for Swansea today and looked very good. He had some good runs in behind, managed to cut inside and get off a few shots as well as combining effectively with other players, giving the pre-assist to Franco’s goal. Overall he was a solid threat and could easily become a starting player for Matos’ side.

Josh Tymon: Tymon needs to be in contention for our player of the season, he has been absolutely brilliant offensively and has, in my opinion, improved his defensive abilities compared to last season. He constantly finds great through balls and his crosses hold very high quality. He is a key reason why we are threatening from set pieces and it should not be understated how much of our offense goes through him. Genuinely one of the best left backs in the championship.

Zan Vipotnik (below) What can be said about this man, he is incredible. The best 9 in the league and his two goals today showed why. An absolute cannon of a first goal and a very composed second one. He is effective as well as explosive - absolutely brilliant.

Malick Yalcouye: The Brighton loanee gave perhaps his best performance of the season today. He had loads of energy and constantly got the ball forward. His ability to make himself playable and push the ball forward is very useful and I could see the Ivorian becoming more utilized under Vitor Matos. His goal today showed of his technical abilities as well, smart feint into a great finish with his weak foot.

Leo Walta: The fin made his debut today, and even though he didn’t have much notable impact he came with a lot of energy and, at least based on the 20 minutes or so he played, seemed to be fit. Remember that his season ended in November, and with that in mind he looked very well energized. Hopefully this was a positive starting point for him and the start of something great.

Well, there you have it, two great additions to the Indy ranks we are sure you agree. More to come ? We hope so.

Illustrations Swansea Independent