Rob Davies
Millwall is always a tough place to go but Swansea City made little fuss of dismissing the Lions at the Den by three goals to nil on Saturday afternoon.
A second consecutive 3-0 win was considerable relief for Michael Duff after the wretched start to the season had seen his team collect just three points from seven games under his guidance.
There was nothing fortunate about this win albeit Millwall were rocked by injuries in recent weeks. Similar could be said for the Swans after miserable injury news on Ginnelly, Allen and Wood over the past few days.
Therefore Duff needed to chop and change his line up with man of the match Kristian Pedersen also missing with a slight calf strain which could see him out for a couple of weeks.
Rushwroth
Key – Cabango – Darling – Humphreys
Grimes – Patino – Paterson
Cullen – Yates – Lowe
It was a composed start at The Den from the Swans with little in terms of chances for either side but a renewed amount of confidence from the away side in passing the ball.
Whilst it wasn’t champagne football we witnessed it was certainly an improvement on recent weeks and perhaps offered an insight into exactly what Michael Duff wants from his team.
Kevin Nisbet had the only Lions effort on target in the first half, a tame close range shot which the impressive Rushworth blocked with his leg as the Swans looked comfortable.
The return of Jamal Lowe was a somewhat underwhelming loan signing on deadline day but he has taken up the responsibility in a front three magnificently in the past two games.
The winger/striker was never renowned for his work rate and pressing before but so often yesterday he was mopping up and retrieving the ball from Millwall players. Refreshing to see.
It was him who netted the opener. The Swans completing near 40 passes to send Yates through but he was cynically hauled back by his shirt. And despite the referee not initially awarding the penalty, it was given after the linesman flag.
Same taker, same left hand corner the ball ended up as Lowe put the Swans 1-0 up. Cue the celebration and the throwing of bottles as is typical at the Den from the home faithful.
It was so nearly two as Lowe was found in thr area and only had the keeper to beat but his dinked effort was saved by Bartosz Bialkowski in the home goal.
What is for sure is that the four at the back makes a big difference as it did under Russell Martin at the times he was forced (largely from poor results) to adopt a change in formation.
It makes the team far more compact and with three up front with Paterson behind, it offers a degree of attacking that we didn’t have in the opening weeks.
Half time came and with Yates limping after suffering two dead legs it was Kuharevych time and finally the Ukraining had an opportunity for more than just a few minutes.
It took until 57 minutes for the next goal as Matt Grimes found space 25 yards out and his low shot bounced in from Bialkowski’s misjudgement. No one in white cared and the away fans certainly didn’t.
From that point on, whilst Millwall were still in it you never really felt like they had enough to get two goals back (mind you I thought similar at home last season and we all know what happened there).
Rushworth was again called into action with a superb point blank save from Flemming at the back post as Duff opted for safety by introducing Tymon for Cullen and a move to a back five.
That did invite some pressure but the game was finally put to bed as Kuharevych made it three.
A delightful cross from the right from Key set up the Ukrainian who just needed to stretch his 6 ft 4 frame to nod past Bialkowski to put gloss on the away win.
We have all aimed plenty of criticism at Duff and the players for recent performances but seven points from nine after the Cardiff City disaster is some response.
Two 3-0 wins is some bounce back from the team and whilst it doesn’t fully turn the doubters to believers, it certainly raises optimism ahead of two tough games. Starting against Norwich at home on Wednesday.
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