Things we learned from the Swans’ late, late defeat to Spurs
IT was a case of so near yet so far for Swansea City.
Paul Clement’s side were a matter of minutes away from a vital three points in their battle against the drop as they led Tottenham 1-0 thanks to Wayne Routledge’s goal.
But they were dealt a sickening blow as Dele Alli, Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen all struck to condemn them to a 3-1 defeat, leaving the Swans in the relegation zone with just seven games to save themselves.
Here, we look at the things we learned on a desperately-disappointing night... Fernandez turns in vintage performance It may seem strange to praise the performance of a centre-half when his side has shipped three goals, but Federico Fernandez certainly did not deserve to be on the losing side.
The Argentine has had an up-anddown season, and was at fault for goals in the recent defeats at Hull and Bournemouth, but here he was at his very best.
The former Napoli man made countless clearances as Tottenham probed around the Swansea area for long periods and, in the first half, cut out two passes that would have resulted in goals had he not intervened.
It felt like he was everywhere during those closing stages, but it was not enough. Still, this was a performance in keeping with the form we saw from him when he first arrived in SA1. Ayew shows he can be an asset once fully fit. Jordan Ayew has not had many opportunities to shine since his arrival from Aston Villa in January, and was unconvincing when deployed as the main striker against Middlesbrough.
This was much better. His speed and sharp footwork made Routledge’s opener and he fed off the confidence gained from that moment with several lively runs.
Is clearly lacking match fitness, though, he looked to be blowing after just half an hour. But he showed he can potentially be an asset to the Welsh club. No room for hard-luck stories This was a heartbreaking, horrible way to lose a game of football by any measure, but for it to happen in the midst of a tense relegation battle made it worse.
There was enough heart and commitment in this performance to suggest Swansea have it in them to secure survival but, quite frankly, they need more than hard-luck stories.
At this stage of the season, points are all that matter, near misses and big performances when the top teams come calling will not be enough.
Swansea have to bring this intensity to all their remaining games and finish the job, starting with West Ham tomorrow. Have Swansea given up on Borja? Paul Clement insisted at his pre-match press conference that he had faith in record signing Borja Baston and was ready to use the £15.5 million man in the final run-in.
Selection for this game would appear to suggest that is not the case. The Spaniard, who is not injured, was not even on the bench against Tottenham, with young Oli McBurnie seeming to have joined Jordan Ayew and Fernando Llorente above him in the pecking order.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Swansea have simply given up on the 24-year-old making any sort of contribution this season, and it can’t be denied that McBurnie deserves his place.
But, should Swansea be relegated, Borja is likely to become emblematic of the recruitment issues that have undermined the last few campaigns.