Swansea City end losing run after Ki Sung-yeung’s goal beats West Brom
Swansea 1 - 0 West BromHome team scorers
Sung-Yeung Ki 9
Ki Sung-yueng of Swansea City scoring against West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League
It was scrappy, far from convincing and nothing like the Swansea City of old but none of that mattered on a day when the Welsh club picked up only their second league victory since the end of August to climb out the bottom three and finally lift the gloom that has enveloped these parts. A long overdue first goal of the season from Ki Sung-yueng provided the defining moment in a game that felt more like an end of season relegation scrap at times.
Huw Jenkins, the chairman, used his programme notes to urge the Swansea fans to “remain calm” amid a difficult spell on and off the field for the club, yet the Liberty Stadium was anything but relaxed during a tense and fraught second half. While there was no shortage of effort from the Swansea players, in particular the indefatigable Leon Britton, the home team were unable to retain possession for any length of time and desperately hanging on as the clock ticked down.
That West Brom could not haul themselves level says much about their own problems in front of goal. Although unlucky not to be awarded a penalty in the first half, Albion never did enough to expose Swansea’s frailties and the Midlands club now find themselves only two points above their opponents in the table and at risk of being sucked into a relegation battle.
With both teams among the lowest scorers in the Premier League, this never promised to be a classic. As such there was a mixture of relief and surprise that the game delivered an early breakthrough, when Ki put Swansea ahead in the ninth minute. Remarkably it was the first time that Swansea have opened the scoring in 10 matches.
While the buildup was superb and probably the best piece of attacking play Swansea have produced for months, Boaz Myhill will be bitterly disappointed that he failed to keep the ball out. Huge credit should go to Àngel Rangel, whose passing and movement on the right flank helped to carve Albion open in a rare moment of freeflowing football.
The Spaniard linked well with André Ayew, who laid the ball off for Wayne Routledge to slide an incisive pass into the path of the marauding Rangel. Running into the inside right channel, Rangel drilled a low shot that hit the near upright, struck the prone Myhill on his right elbow and slipped out of the Albion keeper’s grasp as he tried to lay his left hand on the ball. Ki, only two yards out, gleefully swept home.
While the goal lifted Swansea for a period, Albion finished a poor first half looking like the stronger of the two teams, and the visitors were entitled to feel aggrieved that Roger East, the referee, allowed Rangel to get away with a clumsy challenge on Chris Brunt that was just inside the area.
Albion, who started with a five-man defence, looked most dangerous from set-pieces, although they did create a decent chance from open play early in the second half, when Rickie Lambert met Brunt’s cross with a header that Lukasz Fabianski saved low to his left.
Swansea looked nervous and it was no surprise that Tony Pulis changed both personnel and the system to release the handbrake and try and crank up the pressure. On came Saido Berahino and Stéphane Sessègnon for Craig Gardner and Jonas Olsson as Albion reverted to a more conventional 4-4-2.
Albion were in control without carrying that much of a threat. Pulis was hopping around like mad on the touchline, no more so than when Craig Dawson, who was totally unmarked, headed the ball into the ground and into the grateful arms of Fabianski.
Guardian