Match Report

SWANSEA CITY were given a harsh lesson in Championship football after two set pieces were enough to cancel out 90 minutes of bravery at the Valley.

The Swans were punished at the very start and very end of their return to the second tier of English football. At times Roberto Martinez's side impressed, at times they dominated but, when it came to finishing chances, former Premiership regulars Charlton showed just how cruel Swansea's new league can be.


Goals from Mark Hudson and Andy Gray were sandwiched either side of Swans skipper Garry Monk's sending off. And, while they deserved much more, the visitors will return to Wales empty handed.

The Swans made the worst start possible, going behind in just the second minute. Monk gave away a needless corner and, as Jonjo Shelvey floated the ball in, Hudson was left completely unmarked to power a header past a helpless Dorus de Vries.

To their credit Martinez's men bounced back from their early blow and were more than matched the Addicks at times. And, had Guillem Bauza made more of three good chances that came his way, they could, and perhaps should, have been level at half time.

Swansea continued the good work after the break. But, while dominating at times, they still couldn't properly test Nicky Weaver in the Charlton goal.

Martinez suffered another sucker punch in the 69th minute when Monk was sent off for picking up two yellow cards in a minute. There could be little argument over the first card but referee Richard Beeby seemed too trigger happy when the skipper went in for a 50-50 seconds later.

Swansea tried to struggle on with 10 men. But, when Gray stooped to head in substitute Grant Basey's free-kick, the Addicks had finally secured all three points.

“They were soft goals to concede and it is not good enough, it doesn’t matter what level you play.

”But we know we have it in us to put that right because we wouldn’t have won the league last year with those kind of mistakes.

”Sorting set-pieces out is probably the easiest thing to do. When you look at our team and the patterns of play we had and the quality of the football, keeping the ball and creating chances, addressing set-pieces is easy in comparison. It is not a concern.

”That’s the negative but the positives outweigh that by a mile. I don’t like saying it often but sometimes the performance can be more important than the result and that was the case here."

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