Swansea City 2-3 Sunderland – Sloppy Swans throw it all away once more

This afternoon the Swans can only blame themselves for a pretty horror showing after carving an early 2-0 lead we sat back and allowed Sunderland to come back into a game and take all three points back to Wearside.   Simply not good enough and hard lessons need to be learned.

As the season progresses to the halfway mark it could have looked so much brighter for the Swans but yet again we came up second best against one of the leading sides in the division and, yet again, we were our own worst enemy as we lost an early two goal lead to leave the game empty-handed.

In truth, the game should have won inside the first twenty minutes thanks to a well taken volley from Zan Vipotnik who was anticipated the drop of a high ball in the box and Liam Cullen’s exquisite free kick that found the corner roof of the net and is as good as any free kick you will see in any division this weekend.  Or this season for that matter.

In between Cullen also tested the keeper with a low shot from outside the area and the first twenty minutes were as good as anything served up since the appointment of Luke Williams almost twelve months ago now.

The visitors though opened the game back up when they pulled a goal back in the twenty-eighth minute when a free-kick – earned from a Tymon foul on the left hand side – was whipped into the area and met by the head of Ballard whose close range header gave Vigoroux no chance in the Swans goal – the advantage we had worked so hard for had been halved.

Sunderland were definitely coming more into the game at this point with the Swans not able to generate the pace or prowess they showed in  attack in the early exchanges of the game but Peart-Harris could have – and maybe should have – done better with a chance that was carved out by Franco but his relatively weak shot was blocked by the Sunderland defender.

Ben Cabango screwed a shot wide on the turn from a Swans corner but as the game went into the second of three minutes stoppage time it was very much the Swans on the front foot as they looked to carve out the chance that could restore their our two goal advantage – it wasn’t to be though and the half ended with a 2-1 scoreline for the Swans.

The early stages of the second half were well balanced with half chances falling to both sides but as we went into the last third of the game there were no additions to the scoreline although both keepers had been called into action.   The Swans were starting though to create more of their problems themselves and continual conceding of cheap possession in the midfield areas was certainly not helping our cause.

Lawrence Vigoroux went down for some treatment just before the seventieth minutes and it was at this stage that both managers moved into action to make the first changes of the game.   Firstly, Sunderland replaced Cirkin with O’Nien and a minute later it was a double change from Luke Williams as he gave Eom and Bianchini an appearance at the expense of Peart-Harris and Bianchini.

Unfortunately though a minute later Sunderland were level.  And it was cheap possession lost again that caused the problems for the Swans as Matt Grimes lost out in our own half and as the ball broke for Neil he ran twenty yards before releasing an unstoppable effort into the top of the goal.   The Swans were the victims of their own sloppiness once again.

If that was bad just minutes later it got worse for the Swans as they found themselves behind and again it was the determination of the visitors that was outweighing the efforts that we put into the game.  This time round it was our inability to close down Sunderland and as they came through easily on the left a simple ball into the centre of the box found Bellingham with the freedom of the penalty area and the Black Cats were 3-2 up.   Non existent defending really cannot be excused at any level and there is no point in even trying to do it.   Two goals, two minutes and a two goal advantage was a distant memory.

Could the Swans fight back on another goal infested afternoon at the Swansea.com Stadium?  The ultimate answer was no – the damage had been done and we really only had ourselves to blame for not building on those opening twenty minutes where we were so dominant.   This is not the first time that a strong Swansea start has been eroded away by sitting deeper and deeper and it certainly seems to be a repeated mistake which can only really assume you to believe that it is the way we are being asked to play.   But our defence is simply not good enough to let a side like Sunderland keep coming at us.

As the game progressed to  the latter stages there was very little difference between those and the preceding hour of football which had see the visitors as the better side.   The Swans were devoid of any attacking idea and it was Sunderland who were the more potent force as they pushed forward looking for the fourth goal that would certainly end the game as a contest.

It never came for the visitors but there was certainly no sign of an equaliser for the Swans and, as the four minutes of injury time passed without anything of note, the final whistle was greeted with the stark reality that we had played another forty-five minutes at home and managed zero shots on target in the second half.

When the dust settles on this game the Swans need to take a hard look at themselves and the number of points just thrown away during the season to date with a negative approach.  It is all well and good building advantages in the early stages but rather than pushing on we are a side that seems determined to protect those leads.   And, frankly, we aren’t very good at doing that.

Disappointing to say the least.

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