It turned out that Huw Jenkins chose a good day to predict that Swansea City are capable of surprising a few people this season. The chairman’s programme notes read like a defence of everything that has gone on at Swansea in recent times, with Jenkins acutely aware of the growing frustration among supporters after a thoroughly underwhelming summer in the transfer market, yet this was not the afternoon for any unrest to boil over.
In a bizarre but compelling game, Swansea staged an unlikely second-half fightback that galvanised the home fans and meant Francesco Guidolin’s players left the field to warm applause at the final whistle. It was some turnaround from the opening 45 minutes, when Swansea managed only four touches in the Chelsea penalty area and looked like a team sleepwalking towards a third successive Premier League defeat amid a backdrop of doom and gloom.
Guidolin got his tactics all wrong in that first half – the manager felt compelled to apologise to Neil Taylor after substituting him before the interval – and it was a strange, head‑scratching turn of events that led to Swansea getting back into the match after the restart, with Chelsea guilty of pressing the self-destruct button for the equaliser and perhaps unfortunate that Gary Cahill was not awarded a free-kick when Leroy Fer dispossessed him for the second goal.
Swansea, to their credit, took full advantage to score twice in the space of three chaotic minutes, yet it would be dangerous to read too much into a result that may have papered over a few cracks.
Swansea looked totally lost in the first half and only Guidolin knows what he was thinking of when he decided to set his team up with a three-man defence in which he deployed Stephen Kingsley, a left-back by trade, at centre-half. Swansea gained nothing defensively from a system they never looked comfortable with and from an attacking point of view they were toothless, with the absence of any pace or width leaving the midfield with nowhere to go in possession.
The restlessness among the supporters in the first half was evident as backward and sideways passes were greeted with sighs of exasperation, and the obvious question to ask was how long Guidolin would leave it before accepting that he had made an error of judgment. The answer was 41 minutes and Taylor made no attempt to conceal his frustration when it became clear that he was being made the fall guy. Withdrawn and replaced by Modou Barrow, Taylor looked thoroughly fed up as he slumped into his seat on the bench.
“After the [first] Chelsea goal, we didn’t play well,” Guidolin said. “In that moment I decided we needed to change. I’m sorry for Neil Taylor. I’m not used to changing a player before the end of the first half. If I’d waited until the break, it might have been better for him.”
Asked whether he apologised directly to Taylor, Guidolin said: “Yes. On the bench, and in the dressing room. He is a clever guy. I think he understood, but I made a mistake. I could, I can, I should have waited three minutes. But Mo was ready five minutes before, so I decided to do it this way. It’s the first time in my career.”
Barrow, whose direct running added a fresh dimension to a plodding Swansea team, had a hand in the equaliser, when his overhit cross for Gylfi Sigurdsson encouraged Thibaut Courtois to come for a ball he had no chance of getting. The Chelsea goalkeeper brought down Sigurdsson and the Icelander was successful from the penalty spot, to become Swansea’s all-time leading Premier League scorer with 26 goals.
It was Fer who delivered the pass that set Barrow free in the lead up to the penalty and the Dutchman also scored Swansea’s second on a day when he was comfortably their best player. Fer, who joined permanently from Queens Park Rangers in the summer after a loan spell last season, has now scored three in four Premier League games and is turning into a valuable acquisition for a team that currently lacks a goal threat up front.
The same cannot be said for Chelsea, with Diego Costa expertly playing the role of pantomime villain to score twice and deny Guidolin’s side the most unlikely of victories. Swansea, however, will cherish a point in the circumstances and only time will tell whether Jenkins was right when he predicted this team can cause a few more upsets this season.
“We have a great squad of players who have a big emotional connection to our football club,” the chairman wrote in the programme. “With a little love, care and the full backing of our supporters, I believe this group can surprise a few people over the course of the campaign and once again fight against the odds.”
