Ki unlocks Clarets... get more cakes in!
CARVALHAL’S BAKING A SWANSEA MIRACLE
CARLOS CARVALHAL began the week handing out dainty Portuguese pastries – and finished it slapping a custard pie in Sean Dyche’s face.
Ki Sung-yueng, whose calmly taken 81st-minute goal was the key ingredient, sunk the Clarets as the Swans made it an 14 points picked up in seven Premier League games under their new manager.
Carvalhal has a taste for the eccentric – such as platefuls of ‘pasteis de nata’ (custard tarts) dished out at his press conferences.
But the former Sheffield Wednesday boss has combined the colourful language with shrewd tactics and inspirational leadership, creating a recipe that has allowed a doomed team to rise like a rescued soufflé.
Bottom of the table and seemingly destined for relegation when they turned to Carvalhal at the end of December, Swansea have now taken more points since he arrived then they had when he came in (13).
Talking about his decision to send on Andre Ayew and Tammy Abraham in the second-half, Carvalhal said: “We have an expression in Portugal at times like that. It was time to put all the meat on the barbecue.
“When you put three attackers on the pitch, then you expect to win. We put on players to try and win the game. We took some risks, but they were controlled risks – things we have done in training. But I felt we deserved it against a strong team. After the goal, we had other situations to score too.
“Burnley are a difficult team to beat, the third best defensive team in the competition. So it was not easy to score.”
While Burnley are treading water and are now without a victory since December 12, Swansea are up to 15th and still rising.
And Carvalhal is still referencing his maritime metaphors in the city by the sea.
He said: “When we arrived, we were in the deep ocean. It was very deep and dark. We saw no fishes, only stones.
“We won some games, to put our noses out of the water. It was the first time we’d smelled the fresh air.
“Now, in this moment, we have started swimming and we can now go to the coast. But we must continue to swim to reach the coast line.”
After a drab first half – with Burnley’s Sam Vokes going closest to scoring – the game looked to be heading for a 0-0 draw until Carvalhal sent on Ayew following his return to the club from West Ham.
The Ghanaian added some poise to the energy of brother Jordan, before Abraham’s arrival gave Burnley something else to think about.
When Kyle Naughton surged into the box, the ball fell invitingly to Ki who drilled a low shot past Nick Pope, just moments after the keeper had made a fine save to deny Jordan Ayew.
Burnley had their share of chances, but as boss Sean Dyche observed, their early season form has long gone and they are now falling the wrong side of narrow scorelines.
“There was not much in the game and, arguably, we had the better chances, but they were not golden chances,” said Dyche.
“We were playing a team who nine games ago had no energy, and looked doomed, lacklustre.
“A new manager comes in, players work harder and now look at them. That’s the madness of football.”