Final thoughts
Swansea’s little winless sequences is over with a win that takes them back into the top six. They demonstrated again here that they are just that bit too refined for teams such as Leicester, who persevered in the second half but looked short of fluency and, at times, confidence – as Cambiasso’s remarkable late miss illustrated. Both Swansea’s goals were well worked, particularly the first, which was a delight. Bony, Sigurdsson and Routledge combined well when they were all on the pitch together and Montero always looked a threat. So that’s all from me tonight. Thanks for your company and your emails in the face of Enormo-Match on the other side. Bye.
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Full-time: Swansea City 2-0 Leicester City
It’s all over. A comfortable win for Swansea overall.
90+2mins: Ulloa skids accidentally into Fabianski, who is toppled in comedy fashion and looks in vain for a free-kick.
90 mins: Ulloa tries a bit of trickery outside the Swansea area but he’s been closed down effectively all evening and is dispossessed again. Then Leicester somehow don’t score! Fabianski could only palm a header away to Cambiassio, who remarkably fails to find the empty net, helping it lamely onto a post. We have three added minutes.
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89 mins: Shelvey almost fouls De Laet inside the area, then actually does, outside it, to concede a free-kick. It’s curled in tantalisingly, but Fabianski is fouled as he goes to gather it. Three points are surely Swansea’s.
87 mins: Leicester fans are evidently beginning to drift away, as the home crowd’s songs rejoice in their departure. Montero’s trickery inside his own half creates space for another Swansea attack, but Routledge ruins this opportunity by being offside.
85 mins: Gomis starts a break when he supplies Dyer on the right, but Montero is thwarted when the ball makes its way out left. Leicester go forward, but Swansea now have men behind the ball and Nugent can’t find a way past Rangel and the ball is gathered by Fabianski.
83 mins: Swansea substitutions - Dyer for Routledge, Gomis for Bony, who has been excellent but won’t now be departing with the matchball.
80 mins: Leicester lose possession, Routledge embarks on a 30-yard break before feeding Bony, who for once makes a mess of it and Leicester see off the danger.
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79 mins: Swansea knock it long! Ashley Williams breaks up a Leicester attack with a gargantuan whack downfield which is almost majestic in its agricultural directness. The keeper gathers.
78 mins: Swansea are showing their style again now. Rangel’s chipped ball on the right finds Routledge in space, but the cross is turned behind for a corner, which is squandered.
76 mins: Montero scorches clear of De Laet after clever combinations on the left, but although he’s quick, he’s not quick enough to stop the ball skidding out for a goalkick. Bony then finds Shelvey on another quick break, but the latter’s pass to Routledge is just a little too ambitious.
74 mins: The Enormous Game in Spain has now finished, so let’s be hearing from you. At this middle-sized game in Wales, Leicester are still plugging away in hope of getting something from this game, but their possession isn’t leading to much in the way of chances. Swansea should be able to see this out.
71 mins: Mahrez has another attempt, cutting inside from the right before forcing Fabianski to dive to his left and save with his low left-footed shot.
70 mins: De Laet has looked effective getting up and down on the right for Leicester and almost gets in behind the Swansea defence but the home side clear. The visitors regain possession, and King tries to win a free-kick after running at, and into, Taylor.
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67 mins: Triple Leicester substitution – James, Cambiasso and King on for Vardy, Hammond and Drinkwater, who’d just won his team a throw in a promising position on the left. From it, the ball is worked out to the busy Mahrez on the right but his cross is headed clear.
66 mins: Mahrez has a go from distance, his low left-foot drive from 20 yards skiming wide of the left-hand post.
“Would you agree that Bony is among the most underrated strikers to hit the Premier League in recent years,” wonders Nick Cooke. “I’m amazed he hasn’t been snapped up by a bigger club.” He’s certainly a big asset to Swansea, embellishing their passing game with a serious goalscoring threat, though he’s had his occasional indifferent moments.
63 mins: Off the bar! Shelvey sizes up his options then belts the ball goalwards from 25 yards and it thuds back off the crossbar. Then Routledge weaves into the Leicester area and has a half-shout for a penalty after being challenged. The home side are reasserting themselves again now.
62 mins: Konchesky loses the ball on a Leicester attack, and Swansea break. It’s worked out to Montero and Shelvey, but the latter’s ball in is poor and Leicester go forward again. Dean Hammond’s neat cross from the right is met by a weak-ish header from Ulloa that Fabianski gathers.
58 mins: Swansea substitution: Sigurdsson, having played his part in another goal, is replaced by Carroll.
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Goal! Swansea 2-0 Leicester (Bony, 57)
But wouldn’t you know, Swansea break and score. Sigurdsson and Montero combine on the left before the latter squares to Bony, who’s not been properly picked up. The Ivorian slots home his second of the match. Against the run of play it has to be said.
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56 mins: Drinkwater tries his luck from distance, with an angled 25-yard drive. It stings Fabianski’s palms a touch, but is comfortably saved. Leicester come again though, but Konchesky’s ball in from the left is poor. Swansea, and their supporters, oozing anxiety
55 mins: Swansea’s first chance of the half comes as Bony seizes on a mistake – and possible handball – by Drinkwater, drives forward but slices his left-footed shot high and wide
53 mins: A long spell of Leicester possession culminates in a corner, as the hitherto quiet Nugent feeds De Laet whose low cross is turned behind. The visitors play it short, and mess it up.
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51 mins: A promising looking Swansea break begins, as Bony feeds Routledge who lays off to Sigurdsson and Williams, who wins a throw. Which is wasted.
49 mins: Another Leicester shot. Rangel gives the ball away sloppily to Mahrez, who forges forward but sends his effort way over the bar from 20 yards. In a slightly clumsy fashion, Nigel Pearson’s side have begun this half well.
48 mins: Leicester chance! A long throw from the right bounces across the Swansea area, which deceives everyone and Shelvey almost helps it into the roof of the net but it bounces on top of the bar and over. The home side looked genuinely flummoxed, by nothing, there.
47 mins: Leicester win a free-kick in a promising position on the left. Mahrez curls it in, way beyond any of his team-mates and Fabianski palms it away.
Peep!
The second half is underway, Leicester kicking off. No team changes detectable.
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Half-time sacking news: Leeds haven’t dismissed a manager for a while, so have decided to hand Darko Milanic his P45. Story to follow on the site.
First-half attacking fact:
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Half-time: Swansea 1-0 Leicester
So here ends the first half, one fairly comfortably dominated by Swansea and crowned by a wonderful opening goal. The fabled passing game is functioning smoothly, albeit against opponents who aren’t asking an awful lot of questions of it. I’m off for a drink of water. See you in a few minutes.
43 mins: Fabianski slices a clearance to give Leicester a throw in Swansea’s half but they can’t do anything with it. Monk’s side are defending pretty effectively here, when they have to.
42 mins: Leicester have an attack. Unfortunately, it consists of Drinkwater thumping it from his own half straight to Fabianski, the Swansea keeper. So I don’t think we can really count that.
40 mins: Taylor slightly messes up a promising Swansea break on the left, as his through ball to Montero is cut out by Da Laet, who to be fair tracked the Ecuadorian tenaciously.
38 mins: Leicester will have to attack more now. But they can’t find a way past Ashley Williams and Co at the moment, or get forward in the sort of numbers they need to build fluent attacks. They’re having more of the ball now, but not much more.
Goal! Swansea 1-0 Leicester (Bony 34)
A beautifully worked goal, the product of a lovely combination from Bony and Sigurdsson. The former created the opening with a disguised clever back-heel, Sigurdsson neatly played it back to Bony, taking the defender out of the picture, and the Ivorian clips it past Schmeichel. Delightful football.
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33 mins: The corner is scrambled clear – set-pieces have not been impressive so far – but Leicester are pressing a little more now, and conceding space further back as a result. Routledge ploughs forward on the right but is dispossessed. Leicester clear. And so it continues. “Boring boring Leicester,” sing the purist home fans
32 mins: Taylor wins the ball from Mahrez, feeds Montero and then Routledge but then Leicester break swifty, exploiting the space left by Swansea’s marauding forward and wins the visitors their first corner.
30 mins: “Am I the only one following this clasico with you,” asks Cristian Oquendo. Maybe you are. How’s it going Cristian?It’s not a bad game though, but it could do with some more incisive attacking, and as I type that Shelvey sends a hopelessly optimistic chipped ball forward over the head of Bony and out for a goalkick.
27 mins: Leicester get a rare chance to pass it around a little. Vardy finds Mahrez on the right whose teasing cross teases everyone just a little too much and floats past the far post, but that’s a little bit better from the visitors.
26 mins: Shelvey feeds Montero, who weaves his way into the penalty area on the left but his cross is cleared. The same move is repeated 20 seconds later and Leicester threaten to break, before Swansea win it back and find Montero again. He’s pushed back but Swansea’s territorial dominance is reasserted. They win a throw in a promising position
23 mins: Leicester forge a way into Swansea’s area for the first time but Vardy’s attempt to win a corner fails, as he goes down awkwardly. “Garry Monk, he says what he wants,” chorus the home faithful, perhaps not the most defiantly rebellious song you can imagine.
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22 mins: Chance! A horrible mix-up in the Leicester penalty area and a terrible attempted clearance from Schmeichel lets in Sigurdsson, who shapes to shoot but scuffs, amid shouts for a foul by Wes Morgan. Nothing given. A missed opportunity.
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20 mins: Shelvey fails to find Routledge with a searching cross-field long ball that’s headed out for a throw. From it, Swansea build patiently with their passing game yet again, but it comes to nothing and play gets compressed in the middle third. I wonder how many times the words “Swansea build patiently with their passing game” have been flung together since their promotion to the Premier League, and indeed before it.
17 mins: Another neat Swansea move, as Fernandez threads a direct low pass forward to Bony, who swivels and fires narrowly wide.
15 mins: De Laet’s horribly sliced clearance gives Swansea a throw in an attacking position, and Swansea work it out right, it’s eventually moved out to Sigurdsson, who deftly plays it into the path of Bony whose first-time shot is firm and true - but straight at Schmeichel.
14 mins: For all the attacking intent of Nigel Pearson’s selection, Leicester are on the back foot here without being particularly overwhelmed. It’s a bit quiet on the email front at the moment by the way. You’re all watching Massive Football on the other side aren’t you? Tsk, gloryhunters.
12 mins: Leicester look as if they are doubling up on Montero already, but on the other flank Rangel gets forward but his cross goes behind for a goal-kick.
11 mins: Bony wastes a trademark Swansea passing move with a clumsy lay-off that’s intercepted too easily before the home side win it back, and start knocking it around again with ease. Montero bursts into the left side of the area but his low ball in is poor, and cleared.
8 mins: Leicester still waiting to carve out their first real attack. Shelvey cuts out Nugent’s ball aimed at Mahrez and Swansea build again, Montero showing his first flash of pace. But Leicester win it back, only to be thwarted on the edge of the box again. Shelvey, already looking influential, tries to find Routledge with a weighted long ball forward but it’s just too strong and Schmeichel gathers.
5 mins: Shelvey picks the ball up in midfield, but Swansea are forced back by good pressing from Ulloa, and have to work it right back to the keeper. But they come again, and Routledge forages down the right before winning a throw. From that Ki finds Shelvey, who wins the game’s first corner. Bony is left unmarked from the corner and heads wastefully wide. He might have done rather better there.
2 mins: Swansea build patiently from the back, Leicester give it away and Bony dribbles into the area before laying it off to Routledge, whose cross is too high. Leicester clear.
Peep!
And we’re underway. Swansea kick-off, attacking from right to left as the TV cameras look at it, towards the away end.
The teams are out. White Riot is blasting out of the PA system, and we’re almost ready to go, for the first top-flight meeting between these two teams. They somehow avoided each other as each bounced around the divisions in the 1980s.
Clasico update: in the Biggest Game In The Universe (TM), with Barcelona leading 1-0 through Neymar’s early goal. Scott Murray is describing it in detail here.
Goal height controversy: The Leicester manager Nigel Pearson has queried the height of the goals, and asked for them to be measured. This is either a demonstration of contemporary football’s relentless technical perfectionism, or a return to kids-in-the-park style quibbling. Thankfully, no untoward dimensions were detected, tape measures have been returned to tool boxes, and we’ll be ready to go on time.
Team talk: So, Leicester make some attacking-looking changes as they look to at least double their away goals tally, with Nugent and Vardy coming into the starting line-up, playing behind the in-form Leo Ulloa. Swansea have switched things round in attack a bit too, with the pacy Jefferson Montero replacing Nathan Dyer. Jonjo Shelvey also returns to add a touch of the “anything could happen here” factor.
The teams are in. And they look like this:
Swansea: Fabianski; Rangel, Williams, Fernandez, Taylor, Shelvey, Ki, Routledge, Sigurdsson, Montero, Bony. Subs: Emnes, Dyer, Carroll, Gomis, Tremmel, Bartley, Shephard.
Leicester: Schmeichel, De Laet, Morgan, Moore, Konchesky, Mahrez, Drinkwater, Hammond, Nugent, Vardy, Ulloa. Subs: James, King, Schlupp, Cambiasso, Wasilewski, Smith, Wood.
Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire).
Preamble
Good afternoon. Well it may not be the World’s Biggest Game (TM), currently dazzling the globe on an another channel, but the Liberty Stadium nonetheless hosts a meeting of two sides who’ve made some noteworthy contributions to the Premier League season, Swansea with their impressive start that has now run into the sand somewhat, while newly-promoted Leicester have shown their ability to compete with the bigger clubs, most memorably in that barnstorming 5-3 win over Manchester United.
Neither side, mind, are in the hottest of form right now. Swansea haven’t won in the league since the 3-0 swatting of West Brom on 30 August. Leicester could do with a goal, at least, having managed just the one on the road all season. The indignity of becoming the only top-flight club to lose to Newcastle thus far this season will not have lifted spirits.
Swansea, of course, were also at the centre of this month’s Cheating Controversy, when Garry Monk got all in a lather over the antics of Stoke’s Victor Moses in the defeat at the Britannia Stadium last Sunday. Of course, it was pointed out that the Swansea manager’s own side have previous for diving too, Chico Flores’ theatrics at West Ham last season having prompted one of that campaign’s more ludicrous sendings-off, of Andy Carroll.
But that’s all now water under a well-worn, creaking bridge and despite indifferent recent form, both these sides have players worth watching, so we can file this one under “intriguing”.
