Predictable defeat in a predictable manner as pressure ramps up on Swans
ARESULT that was expected in the way you would have guessed. narrow defeat to Chelsea, with Antonio Rudiger’s goal technically the only difference, but any other outcome never really likely.
And so, as Swansea City’s winless run predictably extended to six games, this defeat at the home of the champions didn’t really tell you anything you weren’t already painfully aware of.
Such as Lukasz Fabianski being Swansea’s stand-out contender for player of the season as he continued to produce the goods where others haven’t this term.
Or that scoring goals is a very real issue that – after managing just seven in 14 games now following a fourgame drought – will go a long way in stopping Swansea escaping the bottom three they remain in after another year passed without league success at Stamford Bridge.
And that already the pressure will build heading to Stoke this Saturday as Paul Clement’s side go into another ‘must-win’ weekend after what feels like a year of them.
Yet it wasn’t completely as straight forward as that. While it didn’t alter the facts of the matter – and that is that Swansea are stuck on just nine points with more than a third of the season gone – there were more signs here of heart and hope that you might have expected.
Indeed, a bit more quality, a bit more confidence in a strong final 20 minutes, and Swansea may well have nicked a point.
Plenty would have scoffed at such a thought, certainly given the way Chelsea dominated the previous 70 minutes and, if not for Fabianski, would have run away well before.
Yet, even in the win under Michael Laudrup there was a smash and grab element to Swansea’s League Cup triumph here.
The late chances, as crosses floated over intended targets as Swansea broke well, were not taken as they were that night and so Swansea can do little but cling to positives. As you would have expected them to.
Wilfried Bony again was one of those, carrying on where he left off against Bournemouth and – if his legs are up to it – will be key against Stoke, especially with Tammy Abraham back in contention.
You would be surprised if Renato Sanches is. Shocking here, almost hooked by Clement well before he eventually made way, the less said about the Portuguese’s performance the better.
Chelsea – even with manager Antonio Conte sent to the stands for dissent – didn’t need such a help as a display from a potentially vital player that lacked desire or direction, or even the ability to pass to a teammate.
In the end, the hand they got was when Rudiger scored following a deflection into his path.
Swansea could do with such a break. The hope had been for, regardless of result, a performance to build on Bournemouth.
With an unchanged side and system – for the first time this season no less – Clement would have aimed for an effort and intensity that would have given more reason for hope.
And yet, well before the rant that saw Conte unceremoniously sent from the sidelines, it was Clement who had greater reason to fume for the first-half at least.
Though set-up well enough, conceding the width but staying compact in the centre-ground to frustrate Chelsea, it wasn’t enough. Certainly not enough to stop Fabianski having to keep up his record as the hardest working goalkeeper in the Premier League. Before this clash, the Pole had made more saves than any of his top-flight rivals with 51; by half-time he had made six more.
The pick of the bunch was his tip over the bar from Alvaro Morata, the striker once coached by Clement at Real Madrid. It seems not even an inside track could aid Swansea’s centre-backs in tracking the ghosting runs between red shirts the frontman constantly made.
That said, Mike van der Hoorn – once again deputising for the absent Federico Fernandez – did his best with the basics that came his way. Often clumsy, not always cleanly, but the Dutchman was not about to be bullied easily as the balls from