Ayew to the rescue as Swansea keep their survival hopes alive
Jordan Ayew resumed his role as Swansea’s saviour and kept their latest greatescape-from-danger act on track.
Carlos Carvalhal’s men are yet to lose when the younger of their Ayew brothers has scored, and he popped up again at the crucial moment to salvage a point in a dominant display against Sam Allardyce’s lacklustre Everton.
Swansea’s luck looked to have run out when Kyle Naughton headed into his own net, but the 26-year-old (inset, celebrating the goal) struck to take their unbeaten run at the Liberty Stadium to six league matches.
“Jordan changed our game because he kept the ball. The team are able breathe when he is on the pitch,” said Carvalhal. “He played a fantastic game. All of the players played a great game against a side who were more relaxed with less pressure on themselves.
“We played like we weren’t under that pressure, with a big heart. We deserved more than one point, but we are optimistic. If we play like that in all the three home games and two away games we have left.”
Swansea had Olivier Giroud to thank for opening the door for them to take a giant stride towards Premier League safety. Their latest scramble for safety looked in jeopardy after Southampton had taken a shock 2-0 lead, but Chelsea’s turnaround ensured a win would take Swansea seven points clear of the trapdoor with five matches remaining.
It seemed set up for them to grab that chance with a fifth straight home league win against an Everton side who had only won twice on the road.
Ayew was back after serving a threegame ban for the straight red card he picked up at Huddersfield, while Allardyce kept faith in Wayne Rooney after hauling him off during last week’s Merseyside derby.
Ayew looked certain to score after Luciano Narsingh held off Rooney to spark a rapid counterattack. The winger found Tom Carroll, whose inch-perfect cross opened up a clear opportunity for the Ghanian to guide the ball into the bottom corner. His effort looked net-bound, but Leighton Baines scrambled back to deflect it clear.
It took more goal-line heroics, this time from Cenk Tosun, to deny Federico Fernandez from the resulting corner.
Just when it looked as if Swansea would finally capitalise on one of a host of first-half chances, Everton got a slice of luck to take the lead. Lukasz Fabianski made a crucial double save to deny Yannick Bolasie and then Idrissa Gueye, but the ball ricocheted back off Kyle Naughton and into his own net despite Alfie Mawson retreating back to head clear.
Naughton almost created an equaliser in the opening minute of the second-half when Michael Keane’s botched clearance from his throw-in allowed Tom Carroll to head towards goal, but he was denied by an acrobatic catch from Jordan Pickford. Seamus Coleman rattled the crossbar from close range moments later from Tosun’s low cross, but in the end both teams were forced to settle for a share of the points.
“That was a big battling point,” said Allardyce. “We faced the form team at home in the league, having beaten Liverpool, Arsenal, West Ham and Burnley in their last five matches here. The important thing was the resilience of our team, getting the first goal was important. Seamus Coleman should have won it for us, but I’m pleased with the point. We could have played better in possession, but it was a good point. “There has been a big problem with our away results, and changing that is a confidence issue. You get that confidence from not getting beat.”