Roque already on a roll,Ayew running the show and squad pressing their claims
SWANSEA City’s first game since Gylfi Sigurdsson’s unexpected withdrawal from their US tour party saw Paul Clement’s men held to a 2-2 draw by MLS side Philadelphia Union.
The visitors fell behind to an early CJ Sapong penalty at the Talen Energy Stadium, before Kyle Bartley and Jordan Ayew hit back to give them the lead at the onterval.
But former Hull striker Jay Simpson grabbed an equaliser for the American franchise as matters ended all-square.
Head coach Clement gave game time to 21 players in total, changing all 10 outfield positions at half-time as he continues to build towards the new Premier League season.
Here, we take a look at the things we learned. ROQUE MESA CATCHES THE EYE AGAIN Having shown glimpses of exactly why Swansea City parted with £11million to secure his services, new signing Roque Mesa caught the eye once again in Philadelphia.
He was only on the field for 45 minutes but there were signs here of the influential role he could have in the coming season.
The Spaniard was excellent in possession, unhurried and in control as he distributed the ball effectively and efficiently, frequently linking nicely with the industrious Tom Carroll.
Defensively he patrolled the area in front of the back four and broke up Union attacks with the minimum of fuss.
He also showed there is plenty of range to his passing, with one lovely outside-of-the-foot diagonal freeing Wayne Routledge midway through the first half.
Of course, this game bore little resemblance to the hurly burly of a full-on Premier League encounter, but Mesa is already showing enough to underline the excitement his arrival has generated. CARROLL AUDITIONS TO TAKE OVER GYLFI SET-PIECE ROLE Understandably, Gylfi Sigurdsson has been Swansea’s go-to man for set-piece duties over recent seasons.
The Iceland international’s deadly ability to either pick out a team-mate or find the back of the net from dead-ball situations meant his team-mates never really got a look-in. He was too good.
But with the 27-year-old having refused to take part in this threematch tour, someone else was going to be required to step up.
Tom Carroll was the man handed the task in the first half, with Matt Grimes taking over at the break, and the former Tottenham man laid claim to taking on the job once the season proper begins.
We know Carroll has the ability to produce given the fantastic assists he laid on for Fernando Llorente against Liverpool and Burnley last season, and - for the most part – he was on the money here.
Several of his outswinging corners caused chaos among the home defence and nearly led to Swansea goals and he mixed up the pace and length of the delivery to keep the Union guessing.
No-one is saying Sigurdsson will not be missed if his move to Everton were to go through, but it at least appeared on this evidence that Carroll has the quality to take on set-piece duties effectively. AYEW RUNS HIMSELF INTO THE GROUND One of the features of the closing stages of last season was the sheer amount of work Jordan Ayew got through in the Swansea cause.
The Ghana international selflessly racked up the kilometres running the channels, dropping deep, pressing and chasing lost causes.
Despite this being just the start of pre-season, he did exactly the same here as he was asked to lead the line during the opening half.
He was everywhere during that time. Chasing down Union defenders, tormenting and teasing them with the