This was far from the first time a game had unfolded in this manner at the City Ground . In fact, in the not too distant past, it was a regular occurrence.
Only it was Nottingham Forest who would be the ones dominating possession, passing the opposition team off the park and, quite often, ending up frustrated, come the final whistle.
It was Swansea boss Graham Potter who sounded more than a little like former Forest manager Mark Warburton, as he assessed the outcome of the game.
His appraisal was a fair one too.
Swansea did a lot of things right. For much of an often uninspiring contest, they were the better side. And, boy, were they good at keeping the ball.
But still, they made the long journey home empty handed. And it was Forest who were cast in the role that many sides previously took on at the City Ground, during Warburton’s tenure.
Swansea’s paintbrush, artisan approach was undone by Forest’s blunt hammer, as they found a threat from set pieces that exposed a weak link in the opposition side, that also once had a familiar feel to it, as two late goals from corners breathed life into the Reds play-off hopes.
As Warburton found out to his cost at Forest, possession does not win football matches. Goals do.
And, when it mattered most, a sweeping arc of Joe Lolley’s left boot twice delivered enticing balls into the danger zone that firstly Daryl Murphy and then Molla Wague, simply bust a gut to get onto the end of.
Who knew that scoring goals from set pieces was so straightforward?
That’s 15 times that Forest have scored as a result of corners or free kicks this season. They managed six during the entirety of the last campaign.
Now when Forest have an opportunity to deliver the ball into the box, there is a genuine, justified crackle of anticipation around the City Ground once more.
And in this case it was their get out of jail free card; the ace up their sleeve that helped them to win a game they looked destined to lose, from the moment Swansea took the lead with a hugely deflected shot.
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Forest have always had a few players and most notably Lolley, who are capable of delivering a ball into the box. But now they are also armed with a fierce desire to get onto the end of it. As Lolley revealed after the game, it is something that is both demanded and expected of the players.
If they do not attack balls in the box, tough questions are asked on the training ground, the following day.
And you imagine that a conversation with Roy Keane about why you have not been brave or committed is one that is going to be quite one sided, coming from a man who epitomised both qualities as a midfielder.
Murphy and Wague applied the vital touches this time – and Wague has now got three goals in two starts and two sub appearances since signing in January, which is a heck of a way to make an instant impact at a new club.
But Forest now also have players like Alexander Milosevic, Ryan Yates and Pele who are also willing – and indeed keen – to put their head in where it hurts, while also possessing the physical presence to muscle their way into the right positions.
Forest began the game with a proactive line-up, with Ben Watson sitting deep and Yates and Jack Colback given the freedom to push on in support of the attacking trio of Lolley, Lewis Grabban and Matty Cash.
And, in the early stages, they looked as though they would get some joy, as they worked incredibly hard to close down Swansea on the edge of their own box.
But the tide soon changed and the issue for Forest was not that they lacked attacking intent or ambition. It was that they could not win the ball or keep possession when they did have it.
It is said that a sign of a good team is their ability to win games when they are not at their best. If that is true, then Forest were certainly very good on Saturday…
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And O’Neill also deserves credit for making good substitutions.
All three men who came off the bench made a positive impact, but particularly Murphy and Pele - who added some dynamism and drive in the heart of the pitch, which helped Forest keep enough position to get themselves on the front foot and secure those vital set piece opportunities.
The decision to replace Grabban with Murphy drew a few boos from the stands which, you presume, were inspired by the decision to withdraw Forest’s top scorer.
But he had just returned from six weeks on the sidelines with injury and was noticeably tiring… and the change was also part of the plan.
Forest knew that Swansea would keep the ball; that they would dominate possession. It was entirely expected. It is what they do.
Swansea also had 70% possession in their previous Championship outing, at West Brom – but ended up on the wrong end of a 3-0 defeat.
And Forest also felt that they could hurt them from set pieces. Which also proved to be an accurate prediction.
It was not pretty and there is plenty of room for improvement, when it comes to Forest’s overall performance.
But this was a win born out of understanding and experience; a win forged not despite O’Neill’s input, but because of it.
As he said himself after the game: “I think I have a fairly decent knowledge of the players, even though it is only my 12 game in charge here.”
The debate over whether it is more acceptable to be the Swansea side that played good football and lost or to be the Forest team that ground out three vital points, is one that will have strong arguments on both sides of it.
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O’Neill says he does want to get Forest playing good football in time.
But for now, that is in short supply, with seven games of the season left to play.
And, if Forest do want to make a late, late push for the play-offs, then there is no debate about what they need to be. However they do it, they need to be a team that wins football matches.
