Swansea v Wrexham

[jackaway]

Swansea v Wrexham, Friday 19 Dec, 20:00
Another night match under the floodlights and live on Sky Sports.
Will our players perform to their potential though. We’ve seen some improvement since Matos took over, but it was back to the old ways with defensive mistakes costing us again at Stoke last Saturday.
There should be a full house and an extra bit of spice to this match, with an all Welsh clash and a north v south battle. You could hardly call it a derby though.
Newcomers Wrexham spent big in the summer, almost 38million.
Seven of their 13 signings have played for their country and six have played in the Premier League.
Signings were Nathan Broadhead, Ben Sheaf, Callum Doyle, Lewis O’Brien, Dominic Hyam, Liberato Cacace, Conor Coady, Kieffer Moore, George Thomason, Ryan Hardie, Danny Ward, Josh Windass, Issa Kabore.
This will be the last home match this year.
There are two away games over Xmas.
The next home match is West Brom, Thursday 1 Jan 15:00.

[Estoban]

Press Conference ahead of Wrexham match:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKO_xDxaEX4&t=326s

[Estoban]

Another must win after the Stoke defeat.
Josh Tymon is on the treatment table after some over robust play from his ex- Stoke team mates.

[jackaway]

Swans:
Lawrence Vigouroux, Ethan Galbraith, Ben Cabango (c), Cameron Burgess, Josh Tymon, Marko Stamenic, Goncalo Franco, Melker Widell, Ronald, Zeidane Inoussa, Zan Vipotnik.
Subs:
Andy Fisher, Josh Key, Jay Fulton, Malick Yalcouye, Jisung Eom, Ishe Samuels-Smith, Liam Cullen, Kaelan Casey, Adam Idah

Wrexham:
Arthur Okonkwo, Callum Doyle, Max Cleworth, Dominic Hyam, James McClean (c), Josh Windass, George Thomason, George Dobson, Ben Sheaf, Kieffer Moore, Ryan Longman.
Subs:
Callum Burton, Conor Coady, Oliver Rathbone, Dan Scarr, Lewis O'Brien, Sam Smith, Ryan Barnett, Nathan Broadhead, Matty James

[jackaway]

Swansea 2 (Vipotnik 70?, Idah 90?) - Wrexham 1 (Burgess 14? o.g)
Well it was billed as a derby and it certainly felt like one. Brilliant atmosphere in a packed stadium, nostalgically reminding me of our Premier League days.
The choir pre-match and the shooting flames and light display exciting the crowd of what was to come.
We had the worst possible start when Burgess headed into his own net. Wrexham offered little but spoiling tactics and seemed happy to sit on their early Xmas present.

HT: 0-1
Swans/Wrexham: 12/0 shots, 2/0 on target, 59%/41% possession, saves 0/2

Second half continued in the same vein, Swans pressing but couldn?t score.
In the 70th minute the finally broke Wrexham’s resolute defence, scoring from Vipotnik’s shot and just on normal time, their goalkeeper dropped the ball under pressure allowing sub Idah to score. Seven minutes added time with Wrexham desperately trying to score with a succession of corners proved fruitless.

FT: 2-1
Swans/Wrexham: 22/5 shots, 5/1 on target, 56%/44% possession, saves 0/2

Sum up:
I enjoyed the game, the great atmosphere with our missing fans back, and of course the result, our third consecutive home win.
I didn’t enjoy yet another poor refereeing performance where Oliver Langford let Wrexham get away with too many fouls and was inconsistent in his decisions.

[jackaway]

The goals:

https://www.skysports.com/football/video/11731/13485771/swansea-city-2-1-wrexham-championship-highlights

[jackaway]

The match report:

https://www.swanseacity.com/news/report-swansea-city-2-wrexham-1

[jackaway]

The reaction:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt-oZ0CyIvo

[jackaway]

Extended highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBOH0-K177c

[Estoban]

This is worth a watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZBbCkvrunA

[Estoban]

What an atmosphere last night with a full house.
The fans inspired the players and the place was rocking.
Wrexham are a good side and didn’t need to resort to so many fouls and spoiling tactics.
A weak ref let a lot go unpunished, especially the stamp on Ronald’s head by not so clean McClean.

[Iolo]

Here I am boys, late to the party, better late than never.
Enjoyed that match immensely. Wrexham were a tough nut to crack and we were hampered by Burgess’ third own goal of the season. They high-pressed us, trying to spoil our passing game and it worked until we finally broke them down with our own bit of luck, a deflected Vipotnik shot and a goalie mistake.
The win was well deserved and took us up to 17th spot overnight.
Unfortunately both Charlton and Sheffield United won yesterday and leapfrogged us in the table, so we are back down to 19th.
Top of the table Coventry away coming up next, they’ve only lost two games all season.
Take heart, Wrexham were one of those teams to beat them.
Hey Estoban, enjoyed the video of the alternative view of the match (he has the link above my post).

[Iolo]

There is a video clip on the Swansea Independent website of that McLean foul on Ronald, the head stamp. You can clearly see Ronald’s head moving as McClean stamps on his head after the tackle as he climbs over Ronald who is on the floor.
Typical of the poor standard of refereeing, he waves play-on!