Swansea City’s third successive victory over Manchester United takes them above Louis van Gaal’s side, who have lost for the first time this season. Maybe Garry Monk should have Van Gaal’s job; after all, Swansea are much better to watch than United are at the moment, what with Andre Ayew and Bafetimbi Gomis starring in attack. They’re fourth with eight points, United are fifth with seven points. That means the top four is, er, Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Swansea. Makes you think. Thanks for reading. Bye.
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Full-time: Swansea City 2-1 Manchester United
But it doesn’t matter! Swansea have beaten Manchester United again!
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90 min+4: Swansea have surely done enough. But United have the ball...
90 min+3: The pressure is incessant. Swansea are hemmed in. Fellaini slips. He still manages to head a cross on while he’s on his knees. For crying out loud! The ball pinballs around on the edge of the Swansea area but eventually it’s hacked away!
90 min: Depay seeks out Fellaini with a cross from the left. Fabianski is proactive and claims the ball. There will be four minutes of stoppage time.
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89 min: Kyle Bartley replaces Jonjo Shelvey for Swansea.
88 min: Not for the first time this season, Rooney goes through on goal and shows an alarming lack of self-belief. The turn to beat Williams was great, as was the strength, and he was clean through inside the Swansea area. But then he took too long to shoot and Williams raced back and muscled him out of it. Rooney tumbled and appealed for a penalty, but to no avail.
86 min: Shaw crosses. Fellaini heads the ball down. Fernandez crashes it away. A pattern is set.
85 min: Shaw drifts a pass down the line. Goal-kick to Swansea.
84 min: Schweinsteiger hoofs a long ball into the Swansea area. It’s Fabianski’s.
82 min: United are not offering much. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a grandstand finish isn’t brewing.
81 min: Bafetimbi Gomis is replaced by Eder.
80 min: Swansea spend a minute or so toying with United. Eventually Shelvey is caught offside. He boots the ball away and is booked. He’s going to get sent off, isn’t he.
76 min: Here comes the big man. Marouane Fellaini replaces Ander Herrera. Brace yourselves for some crossing, Swansea. Fellaini’s introduction means that Javier Hernandez, a supreme goal poacher, will not be used here.
74 min: United have not mustered much of a response since going behind. Marouane Fellaini is warming up. “60min: United are in complete control,” says JR in Illinois. “60min and 30 seconds: Goal Swansea. Never fails, does it?”
72 min: “Gomis has been superb all game, his strength, link up play and close control has been first rate,” says Dante Danger. “I think we can all see now why he was so keen to play last season - he looks every bit as effective as Bony.” Is he better than Giroud?
71 min: The feeling is that Sergio Romero could have done better with Gomis’s goal. What a pass from Ayew, though. “Romero has effectively reminded the world why he was a backup keeper till he joined United,” says Prateek Chadha. “United must really be praying that De Gea stays on this evidence.”
70 min: Here come two changes for Manchester United: Ashley Young replaces the goalscorer, Juan Mata, and Michael Carrick replaces Morgan Schneiderlin.
67 min: Michael Carrick is getting ready to come on for Manchester United.
GOAL! Swansea 2-1 Manchester United (Gomis, 66 min)
The game has been turned on its head and what a goal this is! Andre Ayew pops up on the right and pops an astonishingly good pass with the outside of his left foot down the inside-right channel for Bafetimbi Gomis, who has escaped his marker. Romero comes off his line but Gomis gets there first and coolly slips it under him, the ball dribbling over the line at the near post! Swansea lead!
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62 min: Swansea roar forward again. Ayew escapes down the right and blasts a cross into the middle. Smalling is in the way but Swansea are on top now. That goal came out of nothing but it has lifted them immeasurably. United are stunned.
GOAL! Swansea 1-1 Manchester United (Ayew, 61 min)
Ashley Williams Beckenbauers forward from the back, injecting some urgency into the Swansea attack. United look too open. There’s a lack of cover, too many men forward. Williams finds Sigurdsson on the right and his curling cross is met by Ayew, whose brilliant header bounces past Romero and into the right corner! Manchester United have conceded their first goal of the season!
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60 min: United are in complete control. They are playing really well now. Herrera reverses a perceptive pass through to Mata, who has made a dart from right to left - think Bergkamp to Ljungberg - but his shot is saved by Fabianski at his near post.
58 min: Ki replaces Wayne Routledge.
57 min: Ki is going to come on shortly for Swansea, who need something to pep them up again. The goal has deflated them.
54 min: Is there no stopping Luke Shaw? He bundles to the byline again and hangs a cross to the far post. Rooney rises but can’t direct his header goalwards and Swansea manage to get it away.
51 min: Andre Ayew is rubbing his leg and wincing after a collision with a United player. He looks like he’ll recover. Meanwhile United are chasing a second. Depay drills a low cross into the area from the right. The ball flicks off Williams and almost loops over Fabianski, who acrobatically turns it away.
GOAL! Swansea City 0-1 Manchester United (Mata, 49 min)
We have seen a goal! Luke Shaw is allowed to charge down the left flank and the United left-back dinks a cross into the area, looking for Rooney at the near post. Rooney can’t do anything with it but his presence is enough to unsettle Fabianski, who stays on his line, and at the far post Williams doesn’t seem to react at all. The ball skids away from him and Mata arrives just in time to crash it into the roof of the net! That’s Mata’s 50th goal in English football and United’s third of the season.
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47 min: Daley Blind plays a sloppy square pass towards Darmian. Routledge reads it and gets there first, forcing Darmian to bring him down. The Italian is fortunate not to be booked, although he would have been within his rights to transfer any yellow card over to Blind.
46 min: And we’re off again. Swansea get the ball rolling. Will we see a goal?
“United are yet to concede a goal too!” points out Brian Kitt. True, Brian, but that’s one side of the coin.
Half-time: Swansea 0-0 Manchester United
Manchester United have scored two goals in seven halves of Premier League football. One was an own goal.
45 min: There will be one minute of stoppage time.
43 min: Now Wayne Routledge is booked for hauling Matteo Darmian to the floor. The Manchester United fans cheer ironically, which is ironic, isn’t it.
41 min: Memphis Depay becomes the second United player to go into the book for pulling back Kyle Naughton. His flabber is ghasted.
39 min: Shelvey overcooks his delivery from the left, the ball far too high, but that doesn’t stop Romero from making a bit of a meal out of catching it. He gathers the cross at the second attempt, but for a moment it looked like he was going to drop it.
38 min: Swansea carve United open with some patient passing on the left. Too many United players come across and space opens up for Sigurdsson, who feeds a pass into Routledge on the edge of the area. However his shot is blocked by Shaw, who defends well. Swansea are pressing, though, and Schneiderlin brings Cork down with a tackle from behind on the left. He’s booked.
36 min: Herrera has a pop from 25 yards. The ball slithers a couple of yards wide.
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34 min: Herrera slides a lovely ball behind Fernandez and through to Rooney, who’s in space on the left of the Swansea area again. And once again, he doesn’t seem to fancy himself, at least not on his left foot. He tries a chip and it’s a lame effort, the ball wafting into Fabianski’s gloves.
33 min: Swansea are on top now. Shelvey hoicks a cross into the area from the right, but it’s too close to Romero. United need to treat the ball with more care than they are at the moment. Swansea’s tails are up.
29 min: Swansea are furious when a heavy challenge from Smalling on Cork goes unpunished. Play continues and the United attack ends with Rooney harmlessly directing the ball over the bar.
27 min: Gomis hits the post! Swansea are properly in this now. Gomis receives a pass outside on the area on the right and when Blind gets too tight to him, he rolls him brilliantly and leaves the United centre-back for dead. He takes another touch to make room for the shot and from a slightly difficult angle, he improvises and pokes it with the outside of his right foot against the base of the far post. Romero was beaten. Gomis can’t believe he hasn’t scored.
26 min: Swansea have woken up. Romero’s willingness to play the ball out from the back lands him in trouble and his clearance goes straight to Shelvey, who loops a volley goalwards from 30 yards. He embarrassed Aston Villa in that manner once but this effort is too close to Romero. This is beginning to open up.
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25 min: Having absorbed so much pressure, Swansea go so close to taking the lead! They won a free-kick 40 yards from goal and pulled one off the training ground, Shelvey knocking a straight pass into Gomis’s feet. Schweinsteiger toe-ended it away from Gomis but the ball ran through to the alert Sigurdsson, whose shot beat Romero and the right post. He missed by no more than half an inch.
23 min: Swansea spring forward with real menace for the first time. Shelvey wins the ball aggressively and Ayew turns and scoops a pass forward to Gomis, who has snuck away from Blind. However the angle’s not great and Gomis wildly thrashes his shot well wide of the near post. That’s Swansea’s best moment of the match so far.
21 min: United are utterly dominant and they work Swansea over again. Swansea aren’t sure where to look and the ball reaches Mata on the right of the area. However he’s put off by two Swansea defenders throwing their bodies in front of him and he drags his shot past the near post.
19 min: From a position deep on the left touchline, Luke Shaw shows wonderful vision by weighting a stunning pass through to Wayne Rooney, a ball that takes out the entire Swansea defence in one fell swoop. Rooney chugs into the area from the left but instead of burning towards goal, he seems spooked by the presence of Williams on his shoulder. Instead of shaking him off and barrelling on, he tries to check back inside on to to his right foot and Williams is able to make a recovery challenge, the ball running back to Fabianski. Rooney wouldn’t have done that if he had totally backed himself.
17 min: Mata drifts a cross towards the far post. Naughton heads it behind, Depay settling for a corner. Meanwhile here’s a story on Kevin de Bruyne’s move to Manchester City.
16 min: Nothing is happening.
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13 min: A promising Swansea move breaks down when Routledge passes the ball to fresh air.
11 min: Williams is penalised for what looked like a fair challenge on Schweinsteiger in the middle of Swansea’s half. The home fans howl at Martin Atkinson. Moments later, Jack Cork is caught by a late challenge and nothing is given.
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9 min: This is a scrappy spell, Swansea straining to get a foothold, United snapping into the challenges in midfield. United are being allowed a lot of the ball in their own half. Swansea don’t seem too bothered by that. They’re standing off. As far as they’re concerned, Sergio Romero can have the ball.
7 min: United are dominating possession. I’m going to copy and paste that sentence for future usage.
5 min: Swansea settle things down. It’s been a tough start for them. United came racing out of the blocks, but there are signs that it’s beginning to level out now.
3 min: United are enjoying themselves already. They’ve picked up where they left off against Club Brugge. Neat play sets up Mata for a shot on the edge of the area but he rattles it over the bar.
2 min: The free-kick is made for the right foot of Memphis Depay. But he doesn’t curl it over the wall. No, instead he whips it low round it, forcing Fabianski to dive low to his left and push it away. The danger’s not over yet, though. Darmian sweeps the ball into the area from the right and Swansea hack the cross clear with some difficulty..
And we’re off! Manchester United, kicking from right to left in the first half, get the game underway and they’re on the attack immediately. Mata touches a pass back to Schneiderlin, whose shot from 25 yards is blocked by Shelvey. Swansea look nervy. United continue to press and Naughton’s nibble at Depay’s heels sees them win a free-kick 25 yards from goal. Depay is very interested indeed here.
Here come the teams! Swansea City are in Real Madrid white, clearly going Manchester United about the prospective sale of David de Gea. United are in red shirts, black shorts and black socks and the atmosphere inside the Liberty Stadium is excellent.
Jefferson Montero is out with a thigh injury. It happened in training yesterday.
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What to make of those teams? Matteo Darmian is spared the challenge of trying to stop Jefferson Montero, who is nowhere to be seen today for Swansea. As tough as the Manchester United right-back is, he’ll be relieved about that. Montero has been in frightening form this season. Wayne Routledge replaces him and it seems that Andre Ayew will move to the left. It’s still a strong Swansea team, though, and they should be confident of getting something from this match. Not that United look weak. Michael Carrick and the injured Adnan Januzaj drop out. Champions League winner and world champion Mr Stamper comes in and Morgan Schneiderlin returns, while Ander Herrera keeps his place after his impressive second half against Club Brugge.
Team news
Swansea: Fabianski; Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Cork, Shelvey; Routledge, Sigurdsson, Ayew; Gomis. Subs: Ki, Dyer, Nordfeldt, Tabanou, Eder, Rangel, Bartley.
Man Utd: Romero; Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Shaw; Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger; Mata, Ander Herrera, Depay; Rooney. Subs: Hernandez, Carrick, Young, Valencia, Fellaini, McNair, Johnstone.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)
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Preamble
Hello. Cast your minds back to 16 August 2014 and the start of the Louis van Gaal era. It all began with a 2-1 defeat at home to Swansea City and the dawning realisation that the good times were not going to return just because David Moyes had been replaced in the dugout by one of the most successful managers in Europe over the past 20 years. Indeed Van Gaal had just arrived fresh from leading Holland to third place at the World Cup, whacking Spain 5-1 along the way, but Swansea were not scared, winning 2-1 thanks to a later winner from Gylfi Sigurdsson. Garry Monk, a managerial novice, outsmarted wily old Van Gaal, who soon decided to dispense with the 3-5-2 system he had been using during pre-season. Jesse Lingard started as a right wing-back for United that day. Tyler Blackett was in central defence.
Things have changed. United have splashed the cash and they look more complete. Yet to paraphrase the message that hung on the wall of David Brent’s office, money don’t make United’s world go round, they’re reaching out to a higher ground. They have spent like a teenager who’s nicked a credit off their parents and gone to Vegas, but despite all their shiny new toys, the search for cohesiveness continues. The defence has improved, which in part is down to Morgan Schneiderlin’s screening in front of it, but the Van Gaal philosophy has not been fully implemented yet. They have had control and possession, but a cutting edge has eluded them during their first three. Van Gaal’s critics say that this is a direct result of his tactics - they say that he does not like anarchy, that anyone who cannot fit into his system is out. Van Gaal, never a man who lacks confidence, knows that all the pieces will fall into place eventually. He knows. It is hard to argue with a man who knows.
But it is an indisputable fact that United’s football has lacked the zest and edge-of-your-seat fantasy of old, two goals from their first three games evidence of a side that is not entirely comfortable in its own skin yet. They have not always been easy to watch under Van Gaal at times. Yet there were also signs in Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Club Brugge that the players are beginning to understand what is required of them. Bastian Schweinsteiger gave the midfield control, Ander Herrera impressed, Memphis Depay ran riot, Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick. United clicked. But they clicked against opponents who were not up to much. Are we reading too much into it? Or will Swansea City lead them back to square one? Swansea will have no fear. They did the double over United last season, drew with Chelsea on the opening day and are unbeaten after their first three matches. Is to be Garry Monk 3-0 Louis van Gaal? Let’s find out.
Kick-off: 4pm BST.
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