SWANS SOAR BUT CARDIFF FLOORED
MIXED FORTUNES AS CHAMPIONSHIP DUO GET BACK IN ACTION...
STEVE Cooper praised Swansea City’s “heart and soul” as they started the new Championship term with a hard-fought win over Preston. While Cooper was delighted with a solid start, it was an altogether different story for the Swans’ south Wales rivals, Cardiff City, who were slammed for a sloppy showing against Sheffield Wednesday.
But for Cooper’s outfit, Morgan Gibbs-White’s first goal for Swansea proved enough for the visitors to leave Deepdale with all three points.
Cooper said his side’s performance against a team who were among those pushing for a play-off spot last term was hugely pleasing.
“Any result here is always a good one”, the head coach said post-match. “It’s a really tough place to come and you’ve seen the record they had here last season.
“I thought our performance was good. First half we got into some good positions and didn’t quite capitalise on creating that chance on goal.
“In the second half we kept it going, [Jake] Bidwell’s onside and should’ve put us 1-0 up. We’ve seen it back on the screen, and it would have been a fantastic goal and brilliant for Bidwell. But as Bidwell does, he keeps going and doing the right thing, he gets in again and it’s some brilliant play from Andre [Ayew] and Gibbs-White gets in the area to put it in. It was a brilliant team goal.
“We had to show the other side of the game then to see out the result. We had a lot of balls in our box, but Freddie [Woodman] hasn’t really had a save to make which tells you everything about our heart and soul in the latter stages of the game. But it’s a really good start.”
Victory ensured Swansea remain unbeaten on the opening day of a league campaign since 2013.
As for the Bluebirds, deflated boss Neil Harris admitted the result capped a trying week which has seen star winger Nathaniel Mendes-Laing have his contract ripped up due to a breach of contract.
“It’s fair to say it’s been a challenging week,” said Harris.
“It was not a good start at all. We gave away possession for the first goal and for the second to lose the first, second and third contacts isn’t good enough.
“We didn’t show enough quality in the final third to get back into the game. We were architects of our own downfall and you get punished. Both goals were really poor.”
Asked if Cardiff were having a hangover from missing out on promotion to the Premier League last season, Harris added: “The honest answer is I hope not.
“If there is a hangover we need to shake it off quickly.
“We need to be more fluent and make better decisions in the final third.”
MORGAN Gibbs-White struck the only goal of the game as Swansea City started their 2020/21 Championship season in dream fashion by beating Preston North End at Deepdale, writes Ian Mitchelmore.
There was little to choose between the sides in the opening half in Lancashire.
However, the visitors were much improved after the break and saw Gibbs-White fire home from Jake Bidwell’s cross to register what was his first goal for Swansea on his league debut for the club.
And Swansea defended superbly as Preston applied pressure late on, with Freddie Woodman keeping a clean sheet as Steve Cooper’s side claimed all three points on the opening day of the campaign.
Head coach Cooper made three changes to the side that started in the miserable 2-0 Carabao Cup loss to Newport County last weekend.
Connor Roberts, Marc Guehi and Ben Cabango all returned from international duty to start, with Kyle Naughton, Jay Fulton and Wayne Routledge dropping to the bench.
It meant all five of Swansea’s summer signings to date started in the North West of England, with last season’s loan men Woodman and Guehi playing from the outset along with Korey Smith, Gibbs-White and Jamal Lowe, a man Preston themselves were desperate to sign from Wigan Athletic.
Former Swan Scott Sinclair – who scored in the meeting between the sides in February – and Wales international Billy Bodin were among those in the Preston line-up.
Swansea went into the game having not lost on the opening day of a league campaign since 2013 while they were unbeaten in their four matches with Preston since their seven-year Premier League stay was ended.
Both sides were evenly matched in the opening stages, with Lowe having a shot deflected wide for the visitors before Brad Potts and Tom Barkhuizen had efforts blocked for the Lilywhites.
Swansea created their clearest opening on 20 minutes as Roberts crossed to fellow wing-back Bidwell, although the defender volleyed well over from inside the box.
Wolves loanee Gibbs-White then shimmied his way infield before floating a cross to Bidwell who had a shot blocked as the Swans looked more threatening in the final third.
Preston carried a threat themselves, and Roberts had to react quickly to challenge Barkhuizen as Preston looked to cut through the Swansea defence just before the half hour mark.
Gibbs-White continued to look lively, although, while Swansea showed signs of clicking at the business of the pitch, there was precious little to choose between the two teams, with both looking for a moment of magic as the game remained goalless at the break.
Swansea looked to up the tempo after the restart and thought they had gone ahead when Bidwell fired beyond Connor Ripley from Andre Ayew’s cross, but he was flagged offside.
And their improvement soon told as Ayew’s crossfield pass found Bidwell, and he crossed for GibbsWhite to tap home his first goal for Swansea. Alex Neil then responded by sending on Sean Maguire and Jayden Stockley for Sinclair and Bodin, although Swansea were close to doubling their lead, only for Bidwell’s looping header to land on the roof of the net.
But the hosts should have levelled just after the hour mark through Barkhuizen who was denied by Woodman before Potts fired over from the rebound.
Jay Fulton replaced Gibbs-White as Preston looked to hit back after going behind, although Swansea’s defensive organisation ensured they were a tough nut to crack.
Joe Rodon, Bidwell, Guehi and others continued to put their bodies on the line as Neil’s men turned the screw, with substitute Paul Gallagher causing plenty of problems.
But the Swans held on to start their league season in perfect style with a hard-fought win against a side likely to be fighting it out at the top half of the table once again this term.