SWANS PUT ON SUNDAY BEST TO MAINTAIN MOMENTUM
SWANSEA City struck three times in 12 second-half minutes to put a blunt Birmingham City side to the sword and continue the Swans’ sensational start to life under Steve Cooper.
Swansea dominated the opening half and had chances through Borja Baston and Yan Dhanda, although they were unable to break down a stubborn Blues side.
But they took a deserved lead in the 63rd minute through an unlikely source when substitute Kyle Naughton drilled a low shot into the bottom corner to score his first goal since the 2-1 win at Millwall almost exactly a year ago.
And the Swans doubled their lead five minutes later as Mike van der Hoorn pounced before teeing up Bersant Celina to fire home his second goal in as many matches.
Swansea capped off a stunning victory when Borja drilled home from the penalty spot 15 minutes from time, his second of the week, as Swansea moved back up to second in the Championship table while extending their unbeaten run at home
in the league to 14 matches, their best sequence in almost two decades.
Cooper once again resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes to his starting XI, making just one alteration from the side that took to the field at Queens Park Rangers as Dhanda replaced George Byers who dropped to the bench after struggling with an illness ahead of the game.
Buoyed by their impressive start to the season, the Jack Army raised the noise levels early on, and the men in white made a confident start against the Midlands outfit.
The first chance fell to Dhanda on only his second league start for the
Swans, who was the recipient of an inch-perfect pass from Andre Ayew, but his shot from inside the area was well blocked.
Having started sluggishly in their previous three home games in all competitions, the Swans controlled the tempo from the outset this time around.
And Borja, who went into the match as the league’s joint-top scorer, created a chance for himself 14 minutes in, although he couldn’t keep his effort on target.
Birmingham were somewhat toothless up top, and their lack of creativity was summed up when Fran Villalba fired well wide from distance just before Ayew had a tame header saved by Lee Camp.
The away side’s best opening only came courtesy of a loose pass from Joe Rodon, although the Welshman recovered well by blocking Lukas Jutkiewicz’s shot.
Ayew fired over just after the halfhour mark.
But the clearest opening fell to Dhanda, who was picked out by Borja, although the former Liverpool man’s goal-bound effort was cleared off the line by Kristian Pedersen.
The Swans continued to control proceedings but their lack of cutting edge in the final third ensured they went into the break level, despite seeing 77% of the ball.
Naughton replaced Jake Bidwell at the break.
And the Swans continued to carry a greater threat, with Jay Fulton coming agonisingly close to getting a touch on Matt Grimes’s curling freekick shortly after the restart.
Grimes was the provider again soon after, although his free-kick that found Borja’s head was superbly saved by Camp.
However, Swansea’s dominance finally told as only seconds after Borja appealed for a penalty, Naughton lashed home from 20 yards to give his side a deserved lead.
That opener sparked the game into life, but just as Birmingham started to commit men forward, Swansea hit them high up the pitch as van der Hoorn robbed Villalba of possession before picking out Celina, who lashed into the roof of the net from a tight angle to send the home supporters into raptures.
Swansea were absolutely rampant by this point, and with 15 minutes on the clock, referee Andy Woolmer pointed to the spot after Dhanda had been fouled in the box by Marc Roberts.
And having netted from the spot in midweek, Borja sent Camp the wrong way to register his fifth goal of the campaign, making him the Championship’s outright top scorer.
It’s sets up a mouth-watering topof-the-table clash between the Swans and Leeds United at Elland Road next weekend, with Cooper’s men hosting Cambridge United at the Liberty Stadium in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.