Match Report

From a team who I thought were one of the best seen at the Liberty this season, Burnley yesterday were the exact opposite, extremely ordinary, but there again the reason was probably the fact that quite a few of their players had left their legs/heads at White Hart Lane, and were not fully focused on playing the Swans. But the Swans are not your bog standard Championship outfit, and the impression I had is that we played the home team at the right time of the season. They had their minds on other events.

From my live vantage point I thought, for the first 30 minutes the Swans should have been 3-4 ahead such were the opportunities created but not quite the killer touch on the final ball. Burnley had their first effort on target after 30 minutes, followed by their second 2 minutes later.

For me Gower had one of his better games even though his delivery was not that accurate, he always seemed to have the beating of his opponent, and his run to set up the second goal will hopefully give him a lot of confidence.

Once Dyer gets to know the way Rangel likes the ball, knows where his runs take him, I have a feeling that he is going to be quite a crowd pleaser for the fickle Liberty public. Also, once midfielders like Gomez, Leon and Britton get to know him, as they did with Anderson, they will soon be placing the passes into the channel to exploit his pace. One imagines what a midfielder with the range of passing skills like Bodde would exploit if he was in the team. The chance is there for the youngster, if he has got it in his head, the Swans will have the player on the flank we have been talking about all season, but not just a flier, but somebody who can tease and torment a full back. It's early days for him, but after a tentative start showed enough to warrant Roberto taking the opportunity of signing him on loan.

A word on Joe Allen. Another excellent game from the youngster, dovetailing superbly with Leon and Pratley in the middle and interlinking with the two centre backs.

The much berated Tate yesterday once again showed how good a footballer he is, we all know his limitations, but on his wrong side again did not allow his opponent to catch him flatfooted. Wade Elliot, before the sending off, gave Bessone a horrible time at the Liberty earlier in the season, but until the time when he had to go to full back could not exploit Tate, and the same could be said about Eagles, a player who has cost Burnley a lot of money was not the player we all thought could take us apart at times during the game.

It's a shame that the Histon game has to be played on Tuesday as a week's rest leading up to the Reading game on Saturday would do the players a world of good, and hopefully produce a performance that will cancel out the only time the team has been taken to the cleaners this season. Reading have become a bogy side for the Swans in recent seasons and you have to go back to the 1992/93 season for the last time we have beaten them in the league.

My opinion on the way the second half went last night is that the ten men of Burnley favoured the home team, and once Thompson had been brought on, their only outlet was to hit the ball long, forcing the Swans to defend much deeper. Like so many teams, home and away this season, it appears that their only outlet is once again, ball into the mixer, win the first ball, or compete for the second ball.

Ash Williams had a bit of a groin strain during the second half last night and I would expect he will be rested for Tuesday and probably Serran given a game, especially as he was one of the subs last night. It will depend on Roberto on how he views the importance of Tuesday's game regards his selection of the team.

A good following yesterday of around 275 jacks despite the game being shown live giving another indication the club's fan base is growing.

Burnley 0 - 2 Swansea City - Match Comments Mike Thomas

 

What a tremendous performance last night, which I witnessed on one small screen in the corner of a full pub with everyone except me watching the boring Stoke/Liverpool game on the other TVs. They must have thought I was mad as I jumped up and down for the goals!

I've just seen the highlights on the Championship and it looked like a different game this morning. Talk about selective editing! From my perspective last night we were all over them, and the statistics Sky showed seemed to bear it out, but ITV gave the impression it was non-stop Burnley attacking. In fact, I thought we were virtually always in full control of the game. You can't expect to go away to a team in the top six and not see the odd half chance go their way, ten men or not.

Things that stood out for me last night were:

Our possession football - we're making it look so easy that some Jacks are taking it for granted, but ALL of our players are comfortable and confident on the ball and the biggest sin for a Swans player is to lose possession. We pass and move, find space and take the return ball. It's what our whole game is built on, it's highly skillful, other teams can't live with it and it's mesmerising to watch.

Leon Britton - he was everywhere, prompting the attacks and tracking back like a madman to cover the defence. It was this latter role which saw him booked, foolishly in my opinion because he should have got a sliding tackle in but held back and clipped the guy's heels instead almost by accident. The ref was right to book him. Boy, are we going to miss him against Reading. The caption when it came up on the screen saying that sent a chill through me.

The ref - superb, and not just because he gave the penalty, which was the correct decision and very brave. What's Coyle on about, change the rule? I suggest you coach your players not to foul inside the penalty area instead, mush.

Scotland - no, not the goals, but his lone striker performance, which was immense. He held the ball up and made the link play when he needed to, holding off the defenders with tremendous strength. Brilliant.

Gower - looked a lot more confident last night. Great run and pass for the second goal.
Gomez - did the simple things well; he is just too quick for a lot of the defenders in this division and often gets clipped late. He makes the most of it with his dives, but the free kicks are deserved. Tried a lot of long range shots, which were on target but lacked power. One of these days he's going to catch one right.

Back four - solid as a rock, and great to see all four coming forward with the ball when neccessary, including Tatey.

Dyer - OK, I said I wasn't happy with us signing him but he's here now, so let's get on with it. It'll take him a game or two to adjust to our style - he lost possession a lot when he got the ball, but I think he was under orders to have a go at them, not just stroke it around. Looks like he's got pace to burn, let's hope he can be productive too.

I'm looking forward to Tuesday night now, but that will be a totally different challenge, where muscle will be in demand as much as finesse. I suspect with Leon out next Saturday that the Senor will ring the changes a bit for Histon, but not too much I hope.

As far as Reading is concerned, I see a middle five of Gower, Pratters, Gomez, Allen and Dyer starting.

Onwards and upwards with the brown-shoed Messiah!

Burnley 0 - 2 Swansea City - Soccernet.com

Jason Scotland's brace finally ended Swansea's run of eight consecutive Coca-Cola Championship draws as they notched up a deserved 2-0 win against 10-man Burnley at Turf Moor.

Scotland's emphatic 35th-minute penalty - which also saw defender Mike Duff sent off for a professional foul on the same player - combined with a late close-range strike handed Roberto

Martinez's side a win which made sure they avoided setting a new Football League record and consigned Burnley to their fourth defeat in five games.

Burnley - who were looking to bounce back from the 4-1 Carling Cup defeat they suffered at Tottenham in midweek - started with Joey Gudjonsson in midfield after he passed a late fitness test on a hamstring problem, with Clarets boss Owen Coyle also welcoming back defender Steve Caldwell from suspension.

Scotland earned a recall as Swansea's lone striker at the expense of the injured Gorka Pintado, and it was the visitors who warmed to their task quickest on a bitter evening in Lancashire.

The visitors created all the early pressure with Mark Gower's deflected shot causing goalkeeper Brian Jensen some trouble in the opening exchanges.

The dangerous Darren Pratley then fizzed a 25-yard strike inches past the post as Swansea continued to make all the running with some fluid passing.

The home side took until the half-hour to create anything of note as Chris McCann headed inches wide when well placed.

And the chance galvanised Burnley into life as Chris Eagles whipped over a dipping cross just seconds later that a stretching Robbie Blake agonisingly failed to convert.

However, the Clarets were stopped in their tracks when Duff received his marching orders from referee Michael Oliver after he was adjudged to have hauled down Scotland when clean through on goal.

Scotland picked himself up and slammed home the resulting penalty for his 10th league goal of the season to further compound the home side's misery.

Swansea began the second half much in the manner they began the first and, following two attempts on goal by Jordi Gomez, Gower should have done better when he failed to beat Jensen after being played through on goal.

Burnley briefly threatened as Eagles probed down the right and sent over a testing cross that was dealt with by goalkeeper Dorus De Vries.

Swansea's seeming monopoly of possession ensured they continued to create chances, with Gower and Gomez both spurning good openings before the hour.

Opportunities were few and far between for the home side, with Martin Paterson's failure to connect with Wade Elliott's teasing centre their only real opening.

Gomez fired a stinging shot into Jensen's midriff in the closing stages, with Scotland also failing to find the net with a shot from inside the area when well placed.

However the striker took full advantage of Burnley's decision to commit men forward and with four minutes to go he duly grabbed his second of the game, tapping home following an incisive run and cross from Gower.

Burnley manager Owen Coyle:

"The penalty was a big moment in the game and it was a hard one to take, we have been on the end of some harsh decisions.

"We have played a lot of games, but it is too easy to look for excuses.

"We had a couple of half-chances for an equaliser, but the second goal was poor defending."

Swansea manager Roberto Martinez:

"It's great to get a win in such a difficult place. Burnley are in the middle of a fantastic season and it's credit to Swansea City to get a good result here.

"Jason is a magic player. When he is on top of his game he is someone who people will pay to watch him.

"It's great to see him enjoy his football because that means goals and goals win games."

Burnley: Jensen, Alexander, Duff, Caldwell, Jordan, Eagles, Elliott, Gudjonsson (MacDonald 86), McCann, Blake (Thompson 56), Paterson.
Subs Not Used: Penny, Carlisle, Mahon.

Sent Off: Duff (35).

Booked: Elliott.

Swansea: De Vries, Rangel, Williams, Tate, Monk, Britton, Gomez (Pintado 87), Pratley, Gower, Scotland, Allen (Dyer 64).
Subs Not Used: Konstantopoulos, Butler, Serran.

Booked: Britton.

Goals: Scotland 35 pen, 86.

Att: 13,740

Ref: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).

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