Swansea City 2-0 Leicester City
Premier League form:
Leicester:
Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs, Mahrez, Drinkwater, Ndidi, Albrighton, Gray, Vardy
Subs: Zieler, Chilwell, Musa, King, Amartey, Slimani, Okazaki
The game kicked off and almost immediately Swansea could have had a penalty. Gylfi Sigurdsson's goal bound shot was blocked by the hand of the on-rushing Wes Morgan, but Swansea's penalty appeals were turned down. In review the shot did strike the Leicester captain on the arm, although this was completely unintentional and thus the referee's decision was justified.
Other than the early penalty shout very little else occurred in the opening 15 minutes. Swansea were seeing a lot of the ball in the early stages, although this was mostly in areas which did not threaten the Leicester City goal. As one would expect, the contest was a very cagey affair with both teams hesitant to give anything away early on.
25 minutes had passed and there was very little happening in terms of goal mouth action. In what was the games first real chance, Demarai Gray picked up the ball and found himself in a 3 vs 2 situation 30 yards away from the Swansea goal, but his pass to Rihad Mahrez was slightly too strong and this allowed a Swansea defender to come back and make a block.
In truth this was proving to be a very dull affair. It took 33 minutes for there to be a shot on target, when Schmeichel was forced into a save at his near post to deny Routledge's effort.
Very shortly after, Sigurdsson found space outside the box and pulled the trigger with his left foot, but his shot was not troubling the Leicester goalkeeper.
There were signs that Swansea were beginning to take a foothold on the game and they made their pressure count just before the 36 minute mark.
The ball looped up in the air following a Swansea free kick, and Fernandez did well to head the ball back into the danger area. The ball fell to centre back Alfie Mawson, and his sweetly struck volley flew into the net with sheer ferocity. It really was a sensational goal and one you would certainly not have expected to come from a defender. (1-0)
Leicester had struggled to acquire a foothold on the game and now they found themselves a goal down. They were struggling to pose any real threat up front and things were looking very bleak for them.
And proceedings got worse for Leicester just before the break as Swansea cut through their defence once again to extend their advantage.
In a lovely passing move, the ball was played into Sigurdsson and his pin-point pass set Olsson away with a free run at the Leicester goal. He composed himself, before firing in a shot which fizzed past Schmeichel at the near post. Although some may argue the Dane could have done better to stop the effort, it was a lovely move by Swansea which was fully deserving of a goal. (2-0)
The half time whistle went shortly after and Swansea went into the break with a two goal advantage. After a very quiet opening half an hour Swansea suddenly burst into life and managed to score two exquisite goals. They had controlled possession, were rarely threatened in defence and were clinical when presented with the only real chances of the first half.
As for Leicester, they had been awful and were deserving of being two goals down. Ranieri would need to install some sort of belief in his wavering Leicester City side, otherwise this game could easily turn into a rout in the second half.
To try and get his team back in the game Ranieri made two changes at half time, with £28 million summer signing Islam Slimani and young left back Ben Chilwell replacing Marc Albrighton and Chrsitian Fuchs.
Ranieri's subs did not have the immediate effect that he had hoped for, with the second half starting in the same manner of how the first half ended; Swansea controlling the game.
Swansea were first to test the opposition keeper in the second half, as Sigurdsson's curling effort from outside the box was well handled by Schmeichel.
Leicester were looking out of ideas, but they finally managed to carve out a golden chance for themselves in the 62nd minute. Mahrez found space for the first time in the game, and his through ball released Slimani one on one with the keeper. Lukas Fabianski, who was appearing in his 100th Premier League game for Swansea, was more than up to the task as he deflected the ball wide with his feet.
That was a real chance for Leicester to get back in the game but they had blown it. Slimani was visibly upset with himself, as he looked up into the sky in despair.
It seemed as if the momentum had swung Leciester's way for the first time in the match and a few nerves began to creep into Swansea's football. That being said, despite now having more of the ball, Leicester were still finding it difficult to create chances and the Swansea defence were being rarely tested.
Leicester were beginning to look desperate and were now looking to adopt a shoot on sight policy, but Ndidi's ambitious effort from way outside the box ballooned over the bar. Vardy also found himself with space in the box after good work from Ndidi, but his effort was also sliced high and wide.
The final 20 minutes were fairly comfortable for Swansea with Leicester unable to break through the Swansea back line. The only real incident of note occurred just before the final whistle when tempers flared, but Huth was lucky to only receive a talking to having already been booked.
That's how it finished, and Swansea would be more than happy with their performance in what could turn out to be a vital victory. Although the game had very little goal mouth action, the contest was decided by two moments of real quality; the first a stunning strike by Alfie Mawson and the second a lovely team goal capped off by Olsson.
Swansea now have a bit of breathing space at the bottom of the table, with those 3 points helping the Welsh club to move up to 15th, 4 points above the relegation zone. Paul Clement has enjoyed a fine start to life at the Welsh club and if performances like this are replicated for the rest of the season Swansea will be well clear of the relegation zone.
As for Leicester, they now find themselves in a real relegation dog fight. This performance will do little to raise spirits in the Leicester dressing room as they slip to 5 consecutive defeats in the Premier League. They remain in 17th place, just a point above the drop zone. They will need to improve drastically if they are to drag themselves away from danger.
Player ratings:
Leicester:
Schmeichel(5) Simpson(6) Morgan(5) Huth(5) Fuchs(5) Mahrez(6) Drinkwater(6) Ndidi(7) Albrighton(5) Gray(6) Vardy(5)
Subs: Slimani(5) Chilwell(5) Amartey(6)
Man of the match: Alfie Mawson
Honourable mention: Jack Cork
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Swansea: LWWLW
Leicester: DLLLL
This quite simply is a massive game. Both teams are languishing at the bottom of the table. Both are just a point above the relegation zone. This is what experts call a real '6 pointer'.
Few could have imagined that Leicester would have suffered such a poor title defence. Sure, many predicted that they would fall to perhaps mid table, but to be in serious danger of relegation after 25 games is ridiculous. They are just not the same team anymore. Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have not been terrorising defences like they did last year with both being anonymous for large periods this season. Wes Morgan and Robert Huth have not replicated their form that saw them build a formdiable partnership in defence last season. But most importantly Leicester have failed to replace the superb N'golo Kante in midfield. They find themselves in free fall and would need to address this rut in form sooner rather than later if they are too quell the threat of relegation.
Swansea too have been struggling for large parts of the season. However, there has been a mini resurgence as of late and there are signs that Paul Clement can get Swansea out of the mess they currently find themselves in. The Welsh club have won 3 out of their last 4 in the league, including great results against Southampton and Liverpool, as well as securing a vital 2-1 victory away at fellow relegation candidates Crystal Palace. With players such as Gylfi Sigurdsson at their disposal, in my belief Swansea have the necessary quality needed to beat the drop. However, if they are to do so it is imperative that they keep grinding out results against other struggling Premier League clubs.
Swansea will go into the game as favourites, but can Leicester replicate the form they showed last season and secure a vital 3 points?
The teams lined up as follows:
Swansea:
Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Olsson, Cork, Carroll, Fer, Dyer, Sigurdsson, Llorente
Subs: Nordfeldt, Rangel, Amat, Kingsley, Routledge, Ayew, Narsingh
Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs, Mahrez, Drinkwater, Ndidi, Albrighton, Gray, Vardy
Subs: Zieler, Chilwell, Musa, King, Amartey, Slimani, Okazaki
The game kicked off and almost immediately Swansea could have had a penalty. Gylfi Sigurdsson's goal bound shot was blocked by the hand of the on-rushing Wes Morgan, but Swansea's penalty appeals were turned down. In review the shot did strike the Leicester captain on the arm, although this was completely unintentional and thus the referee's decision was justified.
Other than the early penalty shout very little else occurred in the opening 15 minutes. Swansea were seeing a lot of the ball in the early stages, although this was mostly in areas which did not threaten the Leicester City goal. As one would expect, the contest was a very cagey affair with both teams hesitant to give anything away early on.
25 minutes had passed and there was very little happening in terms of goal mouth action. In what was the games first real chance, Demarai Gray picked up the ball and found himself in a 3 vs 2 situation 30 yards away from the Swansea goal, but his pass to Rihad Mahrez was slightly too strong and this allowed a Swansea defender to come back and make a block.
In truth this was proving to be a very dull affair. It took 33 minutes for there to be a shot on target, when Schmeichel was forced into a save at his near post to deny Routledge's effort.
Very shortly after, Sigurdsson found space outside the box and pulled the trigger with his left foot, but his shot was not troubling the Leicester goalkeeper.
There were signs that Swansea were beginning to take a foothold on the game and they made their pressure count just before the 36 minute mark.
The ball looped up in the air following a Swansea free kick, and Fernandez did well to head the ball back into the danger area. The ball fell to centre back Alfie Mawson, and his sweetly struck volley flew into the net with sheer ferocity. It really was a sensational goal and one you would certainly not have expected to come from a defender. (1-0)
Leicester had struggled to acquire a foothold on the game and now they found themselves a goal down. They were struggling to pose any real threat up front and things were looking very bleak for them.
And proceedings got worse for Leicester just before the break as Swansea cut through their defence once again to extend their advantage.
In a lovely passing move, the ball was played into Sigurdsson and his pin-point pass set Olsson away with a free run at the Leicester goal. He composed himself, before firing in a shot which fizzed past Schmeichel at the near post. Although some may argue the Dane could have done better to stop the effort, it was a lovely move by Swansea which was fully deserving of a goal. (2-0)
The half time whistle went shortly after and Swansea went into the break with a two goal advantage. After a very quiet opening half an hour Swansea suddenly burst into life and managed to score two exquisite goals. They had controlled possession, were rarely threatened in defence and were clinical when presented with the only real chances of the first half.
As for Leicester, they had been awful and were deserving of being two goals down. Ranieri would need to install some sort of belief in his wavering Leicester City side, otherwise this game could easily turn into a rout in the second half.
To try and get his team back in the game Ranieri made two changes at half time, with £28 million summer signing Islam Slimani and young left back Ben Chilwell replacing Marc Albrighton and Chrsitian Fuchs.
Ranieri's subs did not have the immediate effect that he had hoped for, with the second half starting in the same manner of how the first half ended; Swansea controlling the game.
Swansea were first to test the opposition keeper in the second half, as Sigurdsson's curling effort from outside the box was well handled by Schmeichel.
Leicester were looking out of ideas, but they finally managed to carve out a golden chance for themselves in the 62nd minute. Mahrez found space for the first time in the game, and his through ball released Slimani one on one with the keeper. Lukas Fabianski, who was appearing in his 100th Premier League game for Swansea, was more than up to the task as he deflected the ball wide with his feet.
That was a real chance for Leicester to get back in the game but they had blown it. Slimani was visibly upset with himself, as he looked up into the sky in despair.
It seemed as if the momentum had swung Leciester's way for the first time in the match and a few nerves began to creep into Swansea's football. That being said, despite now having more of the ball, Leicester were still finding it difficult to create chances and the Swansea defence were being rarely tested.
Leicester were beginning to look desperate and were now looking to adopt a shoot on sight policy, but Ndidi's ambitious effort from way outside the box ballooned over the bar. Vardy also found himself with space in the box after good work from Ndidi, but his effort was also sliced high and wide.
The final 20 minutes were fairly comfortable for Swansea with Leicester unable to break through the Swansea back line. The only real incident of note occurred just before the final whistle when tempers flared, but Huth was lucky to only receive a talking to having already been booked.
That's how it finished, and Swansea would be more than happy with their performance in what could turn out to be a vital victory. Although the game had very little goal mouth action, the contest was decided by two moments of real quality; the first a stunning strike by Alfie Mawson and the second a lovely team goal capped off by Olsson.
Swansea now have a bit of breathing space at the bottom of the table, with those 3 points helping the Welsh club to move up to 15th, 4 points above the relegation zone. Paul Clement has enjoyed a fine start to life at the Welsh club and if performances like this are replicated for the rest of the season Swansea will be well clear of the relegation zone.
As for Leicester, they now find themselves in a real relegation dog fight. This performance will do little to raise spirits in the Leicester dressing room as they slip to 5 consecutive defeats in the Premier League. They remain in 17th place, just a point above the drop zone. They will need to improve drastically if they are to drag themselves away from danger.
Player ratings:
Swansea:
Fabianski(6) Naughton(7) Fernandez(7) Mawson(8) Olsson(7) Cork(7) Carroll(6) Fer(7) Dyer(6) Sigurdsson(7) Llorente(6)
Subs: Routledge(6) Ayew(6) Narsingh(6)
Schmeichel(5) Simpson(6) Morgan(5) Huth(5) Fuchs(5) Mahrez(6) Drinkwater(6) Ndidi(7) Albrighton(5) Gray(6) Vardy(5)
Subs: Slimani(5) Chilwell(5) Amartey(6)
Man of the match: Alfie Mawson
Honourable mention: Jack Cork
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