Lowe seals win as Bluebirds get that sinking feeling
CARDIFF CITY manager Erol Bulut claimed Swansea defender Harry Darling dived “like I would jump into my swimming pool” – but it was the Bluebirds who ended up drowning.
For the fifth time in six Welsh derby matches, Swansea were the team making a winning splash.
By the time Jamal Lowe added a late second goal to Liam Cullen’s opener, Lowe and half the Swans team were able to celebrate with the controversial “swim away” gesture – a reference to a long-ago scrap between fans from both clubs.
Darling’s plunge took place when Cardiff striker Yakou Meite thrust his head into the defender’s face in a touchline dust-up when it was still 0-0.
It was the kind of thing that would have meant a certain red card in the Premier League, with the see-all help of VAR, but in the badlands of the Championship can still go undetected.
But what it did prove was Cardiff’s lack of control and focus in this red hot derby fixture, which the coolheaded Swans have now won eight times in the last 11 meetings.
Meite escaped with a yellow and was taken off by Bulut at half-time, although the Turkish boss insisted: “I think it was an artistic movement from the Swansea player.
“I would jump into my pool like this. It was definitely not a red card.”
Darling had already headed against the bar by that stage and in a dominant first-half Cullen volleyed the Swans ahead in the 34th minute. Striker Cullen could even afford to miss a second-half penalty before Lowe wrapped things up with a cool finish in the sixth minute of added time. Swans head coach Luke Williams said: “We won in a really positive way and I can’t argue with the way we went about it today.
“I think the combination of intensity and aggression combined with calmness and clarity is something we’re all striving for.”
SWANSEA: Rushworth 7; Naughton 6 (Key (58) 6), Darling 7, Wood 7, Tymon 6; Allen 6 (Fulton (71) 6), Grimes 8; Ronald 7, Paterson 6 (Cooper (71) 6), Płacheta 7 (Patino (90); Cullen 7 (Lowe (71) 6) CARDIFF: Horvath 6; Ng 6, Goutas 5, Phillips 6, Wilson-esbrand 5 (Diedhiou 78) 5); Siopis 6 (Ramsey (72) 5), Wintle 5; Bowler 5 (Tanner (63) 5), Turnbull 6 (Colwill (46) 6), Grant 5; Meite 4 (O’dowda (46) 5) STAR MAN: Matt Grimes – The ever-reliable metronome that keeps Swansea ticking. REF: David Webb 6