A fine Swansea City performance saw them run out comfortable winners over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday. Michael Laudrup’s men dominated the game from the off, and goals from Michu and Nathan Dyer gave them a straightforward victory. Ian Holloway, meanwhile, will have cause for concern. The Eagles barely threatened throughout the 90 minutes and could muster just one shot on target. The away side began quickly and took the lead after just four minutes. In an intricate passing move the ball was worked to Jonjo Shelvey, who set Michu through on goal with an incisive pass, and the Spaniard made no mistake from just inside the box. Smelling blood, Laudrup’s men then surged forward in search of a second and almost found it in the sixth minute. Shelvey whipped in a sublime corner and Chico Flores headed goalwards, though his effort rattled the post and stayed out. Palace managed to weather the storm, however, and were gifted a chance in the 20th minute, as the referee awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position after Marouane Chamakh went down under the challenge of Chico. Jason Puncheon stepped up to strike at goal, but the wall deflected his effort and Michel Vorm made a comfortable save. The Swans then looked to reassert their authority on the match and Michu almost doubled his tally on the half hour mark. The Spaniard first struck at goal from the edge of the box, though Danny Gabbidon managed to deflect the ball behind, before he headed just over from the resulting corner. Their dominance continued and Angel Rangel went close seven minutes later. The ball fell to the right-back on the edge of the box following a corner and he promptly smashed a half-volley at the top corner, only to see Julian Speroni dive acrobatically to his right to tip the ball behind. In the hope of quelling Swansea’s attacking threat, Holloway made one change at half-time, with midfielder Jose Campana sent on to replace Damien Delaney – prompting Mile Jedinak to move into central defence. It mattered little, however, and the away side doubled their lead just three minutes after the restart. Alvaro Vazquez raced onto a Michu through ball and fired at goal, only for Speroni to parry. The ball fell at the feet of the striker and he duly squared for Dyer to tap into an empty net. Vazquez then had a superb chance to nab a goal of his own in the 56th minute. Michu was again the creator, as he found his compatriot unmarked on the edge of the box, but the 22-year-old’s resulting effort sailed high and wide of Speroni’s goal. Palace continued to search for a way back into the game and substitute Dwight Gayle – on for Cameron Jerome – almost found it in the 70th minute, but his long-range strike was deflected just past the post, and the resulting corner came to nothing. However, their comeback was short-lived and the Swans once again carved open the Eagles defence in the 79th minute. Michu latched onto a clever flick and attempted an audacious lob from the edge of the box, but Speroni reacted quickly and was able to save. The away side then looked to see out the game with a minimum of fuss, and did just that to wrap up a surprisingly one-sided victory. -Donut
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 14:53:07 +0000
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