Planet Swans ArchivesHaving already served a suspension this season for five yellow cards, there were two more on the agenda for Shelvey today as he saw red twenty minutes from time. It is a worrying trait from Shelvey who just seems to lose his head and picks up needless bookings – today’s first was for kicking the ball away which has to be one of the most frustrating things to watch as a fan.
It was a game where chances were few and far between but it was always Everton who looked the better of the two sides as they came forward with regularity and in particular seemed to want to exploit the left hand side of the Swans defence which many recognise is our weaker side.
But despite all that pressure you would easily think that there was little for Lucasz Fabianski to do in the Swans goal as the defence in the main stood strong in the face of the pressure that was coming their way and there was a clear message today that we would look to hit the home side on the break.
When you consider that at half time Everton had 71% possession that is a statistic that you do not see that often in any game that involves us. But much like we are capable of at times the 71% was not backed up by endless chances and the Swans arguably had the best chance of the first half when Bony found himself in space and Howard was forced to concede a corner.
There was a half decent shout for a penalty when Shelvey’s shot from the edge looked as if it could have been handled in the Everton defence but the reality was that it would have been a harsh – and wrong decision had the penalty been given.
The second half followed a similar story to the first but even after Shelvey’s red card you never really felt as if there was to be a goal in the game and the Swans were managing remarkably well despite the man disadvantage.
With three red cards already this season, there is a poor feeling if indiscipline in the team at the moment. Shelvey’s red today should have been easily avoided as should Bony’s earlier in the season and that is something that we need to cut out – games in this division are tough enough with eleven men – we certainly don’t need to be disadvantaging ourselves.
That said it was a well deserved point and well earned and we remain for now in the Top 6 of the division with the game tally now at 10.
Arsenal next!
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