Phil SumblerIt was a winning return to the Liberty Stadium this afternoon for the Swans thanks to two goals – one of them two minutes in and one of them two minutes from the end as Luton returned home from South Wales for the second successive weekend with nothing to show for their travels.
The Swans were handed the almost perfect start to the game when they found themselves a goal to the good after just two minutes. Some good work from Smith on the right hand side of the pitch saw a ball into the area played between Cullen and Ayew and it fell to Connor Roberts who saw his deflected shot find the back of the net.
It would have been just what we wanted (and possibly needed) after the disappointment of midweek and could (and maybe should) have signalled the start of a good first half for the Swans.
And for ten minutes it would look as if that would be the case with the team passing the ball around with ease and the game flowing almost exclusively in the half being defended by Luton.
But one of the frustrations of a Steve Cooper side can be we start sitting deeper when we have the goal advantage. And the deeper we sat the more Luton grew in confidence and the more we started making silly mistakes and conceding cheap possession.
Woodman was tested from distance and just managed to deflect the shot onto the post and somehow Luton shot over the bar from six yards out when it looked an almost certainty that they would bring the game back level.
At the other end the Swans weren’t completely devoid of attacks but – a Dhanda shot from distance apart – we never troubled their keeper.
It has become more normal – since the introduction of five substitutes per game – for Cooper to make half time substitutions but despite the probable need for it this time he elected to send his side out unchanged for the second half.
The half started with some similar pattern to the first half. Swansea sitting relatively deep and seemingly happy to hit Luton on the break whilst, despite possession advantage, Luton were not really troubling Woodman in the Swansea goal.
Cooper though seemed happy with the way the game was progressing and despite the fact that we seemed to be progressing further back and looking to defend more and more moving often our ten outfield players behind the ball which just tends to invite continuous possession.
Luton had two bookings in quick succession – for Rea and Pearson – and as Cooper prepared to make his first changes of the afternoon we were handed a numerical advantage of players when Pearson was awarded a second yellow card for a high foot that momentarily left Guehi leaving treatment in our own penalty area.
Cooper continued with his substitution bringing on Palmer and Lowe for Dhanda and Cullen we looked to freshen things up with the game already inside the last twenty minutes. Connor Roberts’ goal seemed an eternity ago at this stage and I am sure most fans at this point – despite having a one man advantage – were starting to count down the minutes to the final whistle.
Guehi’s repreive from the injury that led to the red card appeared to be temporary and he was replaced with just under ten minutes to go and he was replaced by Joel Latibeaudiere in the Swansea defence who made his Swans debut.
At this point the Swans were definitely happy to see out the game and hit Luton if possible on the break and it was from one of those that Jamal Lowe was put through with a chance to run at goal. With more than 40 yards to make the run you just knew a goal wasn’t coming and it was proven as the defender tackled and conceded the corner before the player could even think about getting a shot away.
However when you need something to happen then it always seems as if we have to turn to Andre Ayew. With around a minute or so to go, the Swans top scorer cut in from the right hand side and delivered a low powerful shot into the corner of the net which simply gave the keeper no chance and secured the three points for the Swans.
Yet again Andre had proven to be the difference between us hanging on and playing out the injury time with some ease. Those six minutes were a formality thanks to the second goal and it was three welcome points.
The attention now turns to Bournemouth at the same venue on Tuesday night which is now a real promotion clash for us – if we can get another win then there is no doubt we can go into the small matter of next week’s South Wales derby in a very confident position despite their recent strong form.
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