Planet Swans ArchivesWilliams struck 15 minutes from time to cancel out Pearson's goal for Derby to earn a share of the spoils for the Swans in a strange encounter at the Liberty.
It was probably the least the Swans deserved although for all their posession it was the visitors who had the best of the chances in the game but were unable to convert them to secure their first away win for 18 months.
It meant a second successive home draw for the Swans in a game that they dominated posession wise although chances were few and far between – certainly chances of note anyway.
Roberto had – as predicted – resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes following the defeat at Palace and he sent his side out with what is fast becoming a predictable line up
Dorus
Rangel Monk Williams Painter
Britton Bodde Pratley
Gower Scotland Butler
It is a team that clearly is his first choice but maybe a team that needs variation from time to time especially with the likes of MacDonald and Orlandi who appear to have been on form on the appearances we have seen so far.
That aside though the Swans dominated the first half totally but failed to make any meaningful chance of threatening the Derby goal whilst by far the best chance of the first half was missed by Kazmierczak who missed from six yards out when totally unmarked. A goalless first half was not a fair reflection on the play itself but at the same time the Swans will have breathed a sigh of relief that it stayed that way.
The second half was a predictable affair in as much as the subs used by Roberto took on a familiar feel. The excellent again Pratley was replaced by Pintado as the Swans went to a 4-4-2 formation and it almost paid immediate dividends.
Gower's long range shot rebounded back off the post and fell invitingly to Pintado who failed to get anything on it when any solid touch would have found the back of the net and it allowed the Derby keeper to grab what almost ended like a back pass with some ease.
That miss looked like really costing the Swans two minutes later when Derby took the lead. A good move found Pearson unmarked at the edge of the box and he advanced to shoot past De Vries to give the visitors the lead. What should have been 1-0 Swansea was 1-0 Derby and the away fans were hoping to celebrate a rare road success.
Swansea pushed for an equaliser but were finding it increasingly difficult to create good chances against a solid looking Derby defence until Williams headed home from a Gomez corner to bring the scores level.
And that really was that. Plenty of midfield play for the last 15 minutes but no real chances of note as the game fell away to a draw and the sides shared the spoils.
Another decent enough performance from the Swans but certainly not the high tempo games we have seen at home to date and now is the time that the squad will be tested. Will we see changes for the weekend? Hard to say but it could be time to test the depth of the squad and bring in one or two new faces.
2 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats from 6 to date – a satisfactory return for certain
