Planet Swans ArchivesLate goals from Romelu Lukaku, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial put some real distance between the two sides in the early kick off at the Liberty to send Manchester United away as clear leaders of the Premier League after a second successive four goal victory.
For the Swans it was a second goalless week which will prove to be one of the worries that we have at the moment but this was a better performance than the one that saw us pick up a point at Southampton last weekend.
Jordan Ayew hit the bar and we had a couple of good chances in the first half which we were unable to get on target as we threatened – albeit for just brief periods – to spring a surprise on an afternoon when Paul Clement set the side up to play a slightly different formation.
That formation included a third central defender in Kyle Bartley and a Premier League debut for Roque Mesa who was deputising for Leon Britton who missed out through injury. And in truth Bartley did little wrong not to justify his selection as the Swans frustrated Jose Mourinho’s side for long periods in the first half.
Indeed that frustration could have cost them a man when you wondered if Paul Pogba may have seen a second yellow card in three minutes but earned a strong telling off from Jon Moss instead. If the truth be known a second yellow would probably have been harsh but it was also one of those challenges that warrants a yellow card if one has not already been awarded so you can figure that one out as it always confuses me.
It was just before the half time break though that the visitors took the break just as it looked as if the Swans may hold out to be goalless at the interval. A corner was headed towards goal by Pogba but brilliantly saved by Fabianski before Bailly reacted quicker than Fernandez to bundle the ball into the back of the net.
It felt a little harsh on the Swans who were so close to reaching the first milestone of the day by keeping a first half clean sheet. It certainly lifted United though who came out with renewed confidence in the second half and can probably consider themselves unlucky not to add to the scoreline quicker than they did.
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The Swans for their part were playing a bit part in the second half but you always wondered at 1-0 whether there was a surprise coming our way. Clement changed things by bringing on Narsingh and Routledge for a more traditional formation but it was to little effect. Abraham came close a couple of times but the final touch just would not go our way before the killer blows were applied at the end.
Lukaku finished with ease when played in by Martial and less than two minutes later Pogba capitalised on Carroll giving the ball away in midfield before Martial applied the final nail in the coffin with the fourth goal five minutes from time.
Following the sale of Gylfi Sigurdsson this week the Swans really need to venture into the transfer market this week to bring in 2 or 3 quality players and hopefully we will be seeing Fernando Llorente before too much longer for another boost.
We weren’t the first and won’t be the last team to be crushed this season by Man Utd but we do need to get some results on the board earlier than we did last season to prevent being sucked into the same trap.
Onwards
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