Watford visited the Liberty Stadium to face a struggling Swansea City sitting in the relegation zone.
The game marked Bob Bradley’s first game in charge at the Liberty, the American got a warm welcome before kick off by the jack army. Bradley made 5 changes to the starting line-up: Stephen Kingsley, Mike van der Hoorn, Borja Baston, Ki Sueng Yueng and Alfie Mawson came into the team replacing Jordi Amat, Federico Fernandez, Neil Taylor, Leroy Fer and Jack Cork. The game saw Alfie Mawson make his debut since his move from Barnsley.
The game began in a slow fashion with neither team making a big impact on the game. Debutant Alfie Mawson didn’t take long to show the Swans what he was about, showing great composure on the ball, something the Swansea defence has been missing in the past weeks.
Gylfi Sigurdsson came close to breaking the deadlock, a pass to the edge of the box by Kyle Naughton found the Icelandic international who made Heurelho Gomes stretch to keep it out.
Just before the break, Etienne Capoue picked up a yellow card for a comical offence as he picked up the not-so-tall Wayne Routledge, preventing a Swansea counter attack. The first half ended goalless, a scoreline that reflected the game and performances of both sides.
The second half began with Swansea piling a lot more pressure on the Watford defence using Gambian international, Modou Barrow to put the visitors on the backfoot.
After 15 minutes of the half, Watford seemed to come back to life as their two frontmen, Deeney and Ighalo still causing problems for Mawson and van der Hoorn. A fantastic run from Swansea’s Modou Barrow saw four Watford players beaten however his resulting cross was not met by striker, Borja Baston.
Another chance for Swansea, as Gylfi Sigurdsson swung a delightful ball into the box which found van der Hoorn a few metres from goal however his attempt was straight at the Watford goalkeeper.
Swansea’s first substitute came 68 minutes in, Wayne Routledge made way for the tall Spaniard, Fernando Llorente. Bob Bradley clearly not settling for a point, having two strikers on the pitch. The substitute did not take long to get involved, firing a half volley just over the bar from inside the box.
Another chance not long after fell to the Icelandic midfielder, Gyfli Sigurdsson, his first time attempt inside the box was saved by Gomes in the Watford goal.
10 minutes from the end, the Swansea domination saw another well worked Swansea attack fall to Sigurdsson, who hit the post after Barrow cut the ball back to the edge of the box. A counter from Watford was almost converted as substitute Amarabat fired just over the bar.
The final whistle blew which meant a frustrating point for the hosts as their dominant second half performance didn’t result in a win. The draw leaves Bob Bradley still searching for his first win as Swansea boss, after two games in charge.
Swansea boss Bob Bradley was in good spirit after the match: “There were a lot of positives for us, including the first clean sheet for a long time. There are things for us to build on.”
Bradley also reflected on the performance of Alfie Mawson, who had an impressive debut today. Bradley said, “I think Alfie has earned the respect from his team-mates day in and day out. He has a real presence on the field. He is not afraid to talk and organise and he is a solid passer. His first game I thought was very good.”
The result means Swansea City remain 19th in th Premier League whilst Watford sit 9th with three wins, three draws and three losses. Swansea City travel to Stoke next Monday, where they’ll hope they can make up for what is viewed as two points lost today at the Liberty.
InTheMixer 