MX23RW : Tuesday, May 14 20:35:03| >> :600:979293:979293:

Match Analysis: Swansea City 2-0 Stoke City

Sports Mole takes an in-depth look back at Swansea City's 2-0 victory over Stoke City at the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea City kept their Premier League top-eight ambitions well on track this afternoon courtesy of a 2-0 victory over 10-man Stoke City at the Liberty Stadium.

A dour first half of football was followed up by a far more entertaining second 45 minutes, but there was only one team ever likely to take maximum points.

Garry Monk's charges hit the crossbar within two minutes of the restart through Gylfi Sigurdsson, before goals from Jefferson Montero and substitute Ki Sung-yueng in the final 13 minutes wrapped up the win for the Swans.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at how the contest unfolded in South Wales.

Match statistics

SWANSEA CITY
Shots: 16
On target: 4
Possession: 47%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 9

STOKE CITY
Shots: 9
On target: 3
Possession: 53%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 18

Was the result fair?

On the viewing of the first half alone, it is safe to say that neither of these sides truly wanted the victory enough. Just two shots on target in the opening 45 minutes, both of which came in the closing stages, provided a sloppy affair that looked destined for the final slot on Match of the Day.

That all changed following the restart, though, as Swansea came out far stronger. They almost made a breakthrough two minutes into the half through Sigurdsson's delicate shot from range, but the crossbar came to Stoke's rescue. The momentum very much remained with the home side throughout, and they finally had a goal to show for their efforts when Montero ghosted in to head home his first goal for the club.

Stoke introduced Peter Crouch and Peter Odemwingie for the final 10 minutes, the former having scored four goals in his previous six meetings against the Welsh outfit, but it was Monk's side who found the second goal late on thanks to Ki's seventh of the campaign. That came shortly after Marc Wilson had been shown his marching orders for two bookable offences, sealing what was a bad day out for the Potters.

Swansea City's performance

City's first-half performance was predictable. There was simply not enough penetration or guile to match their rare attacking moves, with their best moment coming when Shelvey tested stand-in opposition stopper Jack Butland from range. The Swans have been struck down by numerous injuries in recent weeks, but they have done well to claim six points from six to essentially fend off Stoke for eighth place in the Premier League.

They had Shelvey to thank for this pivotal victory, with his quick thinking to keep the ball in play and strength to brush aside Phil Bardsley allowing Montero to find a way through. Monk has been able to rotate things a little over the past month, as witnessed by Ki's goalscoring appearance from the bench, making this his finest season ever in terms of goals. In the end, 2-0 just about proved to be the correct scoreline, but novice manager Monk will no doubt have his players geared up for their final three games.

Stoke City's performance

While Swansea were surprisingly sloppy on the ball for large parts this afternoon, they could often afford to get away with it due to Stoke's inability to capitalise on openings. They, like their opponents, badly struggled to get a foot on things in the first half, although there was not enough of an improvement in the second 45 minutes.

It was not until Crouch was introduced that City were finally able to change their attacking approach, but it was a case of too little, too late. Their defending for the second goal was also poor, allowing the lively Shelvey to pull back in the simplest manner possible for Ki to round off the scoring. Stoke can be more than happy with their season to date, but it is now one league win in seven for them, and perhaps a case of the squad looking ahead to their well-deserved summer break.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Jonjo Shelvey: Not too many standout candidates for this accolade, but Shelvey was just about the best player on the field this afternoon. Sigurdsson was often involved in play, but he was guilty of missing one sitter in particular, whereas Shelvey claimed a couple of assists while proving a real thorn in Stoke's side throughout the second half.

Biggest gaffe

In a first half of very little action, Sigurdsson appeared to be the only player who had a little bit of quality about him. He was also involved following the break, but he was guilty of missing a free header from five yards out which could have cost his side. As it was, the hosts were able to find the net twice in the final quarter to wrap up the win.

Referee performance

Craig Pawson had an eventful afternoon, but one that he can be happy with on the whole. Mame Biram Diouf felt as though he should have had a penalty when he went down under the challenge of Federico Fernandez, but replays showed that he was quite clearly on his way to ground before contact was made. The official also had little choice but to issue Wilson with a second yellow card, meaning that he has now reached into his back pocket eight times this season.

What next?

Swansea City: A tough trip to the Emirates Stadium awaits Swansea next Monday, knowing that a victory could see them claw even further away from Stoke in the race for a top-eight finish.

Stoke City: Mark Hughes's charges also take on a North London outfit in their next outing as they play host to Tottenham Hotspur.

ID:220610: cacheID:220610:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:8420:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Jefferson Montero of Swansea City celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Swansea City and Stoke City at Liberty Stadium on May 2, 2015
Read Next:
Swansea see off Stoke
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLeicester CityLeicester463141189414897
3Leeds UnitedLeeds462791081433890
4Southampton462691187632487
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4621121370472375
6Norwich CityNorwich4621101579641573
7Hull City461913146860870
8Middlesbrough46209177162969
9Coventry CityCoventry4617131670591164
10Preston North EndPreston46189195667-1163
11Bristol City461711185351262
12Cardiff CityCardiff46195225370-1762
13Millwall461611194555-1059
14Swansea CitySwansea461512195965-657
15Watford461317166161056
16Sunderland46168225254-256
17Stoke CityStoke461511204960-1156
18Queens Park RangersQPR461511204758-1156
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn461411216074-1453
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds46158234468-2453
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth461312215970-1151
RBirmingham CityBirmingham461311225065-1550
RHuddersfield TownHuddersfield46918194877-2945
RRotherham UnitedRotherham46512293789-5227


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!