MX23RW : Friday, March 29 00:45:18| >> :60:1205:1205:
[monks data]
Swansea logo
Championship | Gameweek 4
Oct 3, 2020 at 3pm UK
Liberty Stadium
Millwall logo

Swansea
2 - 1
Millwall

Bidwell (46'), Cabango (69')
Guehi (27')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Bradshaw (51')
Malone (90+4')

Steve Cooper defends Andre Ayew after Gary Rowett criticism

The Ghana striker went down after an off-the-ball second-half incident with Lions defender Jake Steve Cooper.

Steve Cooper defended Andre Ayew after Millwall manager Gary Rowett accused the Ghana striker of "embarrassing" behaviour in Swansea's 2-1 at the Liberty Stadium.

Defenders Jake Bidwell and Ben Cabango scored second-half goals as Swansea made it 10 points from four Sky Bet Championship games and ended Millwall's unbeaten league record.

But one of the game's main talking points came in the 58th-minute when Ayew screamed in agony as he went down in an off-the-ball incident with Lions defender Jake Cooper.

Rowett said: "I've watched it back. They thought it was a blatant elbow, but as he goes across Coops he runs into his arm.

"No contact would make anyone roll around the floor screaming like that.

"There is no place for that in that game. I thought it was pretty embarrassing. There wasn't a mark on him."

Steve Cooper, however, was quick to defend Ayew, although he did not accuse his Millwall namesake of striking his player intentionally.

"I've seen it back, and he's definitely caught him," Cooper said.

"I don't think any of us would like an arm flush in our face. Whether it's intentional or not I don't know."

Cooper revealed that Sweden winger Kristoffer Peterson had been withdrawn from the squad after he had been messaged by the club's chief executive Julian Winter.

Peterson is poised to join German side Fortuna Dusseldorf for around £400,000, plus add-ons.

"I didn't want to lose anybody, We're going into the busiest Championship schedule ever," Cooper said.

"I had a message off Julian Winter this morning to ask for him not to be involved.

"He was in the squad and would probably have been on the bench, and that's as much as I know about it."

On the game, Cooper added: "We are a young side but I thought we came of age. You have to stand up to be counted when you play Millwall and I thought we did that.

"I told the players before the game that these are the kind of matches that we have to win if we are serious about what we are doing this season. Now we just need to keep going."

Rowett, who confirmed that on-loan Tottenham striker Troy Parrott will be out for five to six weeks with ankle damage, felt Millwall merited a draw after Tom Bradshaw's equaliser.

"I think we did enough to get a point and we should have had a penalty in the 90th minute.

"It's a bit of a cop-out from the referee because it was the most blatant penalty you'll see.

"There's a lot of pulling going on and their player grabs Shaun Hutchinson and wrestles him to the floor. But the referee said the ball had not come in play."

ID:417078: cacheID:417078:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4107:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Norwich City's Teemu Pukki celebrates scoring against Preston North End on September 19, 2020
Read Next:
Saturday's Championship predictions including Norwich City vs. Derby County
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds38257670284282
2Leicester CityLeicester37264774334182
3Ipswich TownIpswich38249580493181
4Southampton36227773472673
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom381991059362366
6Norwich CityNorwich381871369541561
7Hull City371610115346758
8Coventry CityCoventry3715121059431657
9Preston North EndPreston37168134954-556
10Middlesbrough38166165352154
11Cardiff CityCardiff38165174351-853
12Sunderland38146184845348
13Watford381212145351248
14Bristol City38138174245-347
15Swansea CitySwansea381210164858-1046
16Millwall381110173650-1443
17Blackburn RoversBlackburn38119185164-1342
18Plymouth ArgylePlymouth381011175462-841
19Stoke CityStoke38118193553-1841
20Queens Park RangersQPR381010183650-1440
21Birmingham CityBirmingham38109194259-1739
22Huddersfield TownHuddersfield38815154261-1939
23Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds38115223061-3138
24Rotherham UnitedRotherham38311243077-4720


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!