Phil SumblerThere is so much that can be written about today’s game after the Swans completed a remarkable game of two halves with a three goal comeback to earn an unlikely point at Luton, a point that was so nearly turned into three in the very last minute.
Second half goals from Jamie Paterson, Olivier Ntcham and Joel Piroe in stoppage time earned the Swans the point after a 23 minute capitulation in the first half that saw us three goals down thanks to kamikaze defending, general untidy play and a seeming lack of cohesion anywhere on the pitch.
Indeed, it could – and probably should – have been a lot worse for the Swans as the home side looked like they could score at will although incredibly ended the half with eleven men on the pitch after Henri Lansbury kicked Ryan Manning from behind but escaped somehow with just a yellow card for his troubles.
The warning signs for the Swans in the first half were clear as soon as the first minute as Ben Hamer could easily have been punished for a sloppy clearance that was to set the tone for the Swans in the first half as their generosity towards the home attack knew no bounds
It was a temporary reprieve though for the Swans as we went a goal down after seven minutes having failed to deal with a long throw and less than ten minutes later it was two as Kyle Naughton showed the clumsy side to his defending by giving away a penalty and Adebayo the first of his two goals – the second arriving as he tapped home a diagonal pass that our ever-so generous defence failed to deal with.
At 3-0 the game looked over and the Swans afternoon looked set to be summed up by the failure of Tony Harrington to send off Lansbury. A free kick to the home side was tapped away by Manning but Lansbury had decided that the ball wasn’t to him anyway and he took the full backs legs away from him giving Harrington what looked like the easiest decision of the season to make. However, he made that decision with just a yellow card for Lansbury and then doubled down by giving Manning the same treatment for kicking the ball away. Even the home fans would have breathed a collective sigh of relief at this stage.
It was with some relief that we reached the halfway mark still just three goals down and, if the words of Martin on the touchline that were audible were anything to go by, the air in the away dressing room would have been exceptionally blue at half time.
Ntcham, Piroe and Cabango were introduced at the very start of the second half and the impact could have been immediate as both Obafemi and Paterson rattled the crossbar in the opening minutes of the second half before Luton hit the post in an attempt to score a fourth.
That though was their last real threat on the Swansea goal as Paterson pulled a goal back seven minutes into the second half with a deflected drive. Was it to be the start of an incredible Swansea comeback or just a false hope for the Swans was unsure at this stage but it put a level of respectability on the scoreline at that stage if nothing else.
It looked like it would just be that respectability before Ntcham grabbed his first Swans goal with five minutes left with another deflected shot but there was nothing deflected about the Piroe shot that earned the Swans a point as he beat the keeper at the near post to send the travelling fans into a pure celebration.
The Swans almost completed the comeback with full style when Obafemi’s shot from a low Laird ball was blocked but that was the last of the action really and the two sides had to settle for a point each although it would have felt much more sweet to Russell Martin than Nathan Jones.
A classic game of two halves and the more we see of the Swansea City of the second half the better and let’s hope we never see the Swansea City of the first half again.
Full credit to Russell Martin for being decisive enough to make the changes at half time and well done to those players in the second half who led the fightback so well. Equal criticism to the players and management in the first half but let’s take the positive thoughts forward and leave the obvious negatives behind.
A point on the road no matter how unlikely it looked at 4pm!
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An excellent report, thank you so much.
On the ridiculous yellow card incident involving Lansbury and Manning, Lansbury’s kick is either an ‘accident’ or an offence. If the referee decided, which he did, that it was an offence, then there is only one outcome, a red card. Baffling!
Another point, is it just me, or is Nathan ‘unfathomable’ Jones totally incoherent?