Swansea v Preston

[jackaway]

Swansea v Preston Tue 24 Feb 19:45
The night of the Snoop Dogg coming up. The famous American rapper and minority shareholder in Swansea City makes his first visit to the city and it’s a sell out to greet him.
Swans are on a roll at home with seven wins from nine since Matos took charge, long may it continue.
It was a hard fought win against a tough Bristol team, with Vipotnik’s goal separating the sides.
Preston arrive here after a last minute 1-0 defeat at Blackburn in their local derby last Friday night and with one win in their last six away games, a 0-2 win at Bristol City.
We lost 2-1 up there in the reverse fixture under Sheehan, where Preston climbed to fourth position. Small’s 27 yard stunning shot on 8 mins after Casey’s poor headed clearance and Osmajic getting the better of Key from a hopeful upfield clearance which left him clear to get their second goal on 49 minutes. Eom scored on 80 mins but we couldn’t get the equaliser.
Let’s hope our home run of form continues with another win.

[jackaway]

Swans:
Lawrence Vigouroux, Ethan Galbraith, Ben Cabango (c), Cameron Burgess, Josh Tymon, Jay Fulton (Josh Key 46), Goncalo Franco (Melker Widell 75), Leo Walta (Malick Yalcouye 46), Ronald (Gustavo Nunes 46), Jisung Eom (Liam Cullen 75), Zan Vipotnik

[jackaway]

Swansea 1 (Cullen 95’) - Preston 1 (Jebbison 26’)
You often hear about a game of two contrasting halves, well this was a classic one.
Preston surprisingly outplayed us in what was a lethargic Swans performance first-half and they could have scored more than the one goal.
Matos made changes at half-time and turned the game on its head, bringing on three subs. Preston were on the ropes and tried to stop us by fair or foul means, diving in to tackles and putting their bodies on the line in order to stop us, with a complicit referee unwilling to penalise them.
Swans wasted chance after chance as Preston hung on. Cabango hit the post, twice headed wide, Burgess headed wide and Yalcouye fluffed the best chance of the game, shooting straight at the keeper with the goal at his mercy.
Two penalty shouts unheeded by the incompetent referee and it looked as if it was going to be one of those nights where we just couldn’t find the net.
In the dying seconds, one more attack, a pinpoint cross from sub Nunes and sub Cullen’s fine header finally produced a goal and the stadium erupted.
So Swans home record, unbeaten since last November, remained intact and we salvaged a draw that our second half display deserved.
Frustration in the end, not the result we wanted going into the match but relief that we got something out of the game that our second-half resurgence deserved.

[jackaway]

Match highlights

https://www.skysports.com/football/video/33727/13511759/swansea-1-1-preston-champ-hls-mxf

[jackaway]

Reaction from Vitor Matos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRQ7h03KZjc

[Estoban]

Extended highlights:

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

[Estoban]

How we didn’t win that after so many chances second-half I don’t know,
Game was there for the taking, we just couldn’t find the net.
Biggest crowd of the season with Snoop Dogg watching on, great atmosphere but our players left their mojo behind.
Great comeback though and we got the equaliser and the draw with just seconds to spare.
We move on to the Ipswich game next Saturday and hope for better things.

[Iolo]

Hi guys, what a frustrating night. Flopped first half, second-half how did we not win it, a complete reversal.
The much maligned Cullen saving our blushes, all those missed chances.
Even Snoop Dogg and a capacity crowd couldn’t inspire us.
Burgess and Cabango need heading practice, they couldn’t find the net when well placed.
The rest, they need some shooting practice, so many chances miss-hit.
And the ref, where did they find him, he was useless and didn’t control the game, letting so many fouls go unpunished.

[Iolo]

The subs changed the game. Key, Yalcouye, Nunes on 46’, and Widell and Cullen on 75’

[Iolo]

So kudos to Matos for changing things at half-time by bringing on the subs that turned the game on its head.
Frustration that we squandered chances to win the game.

[Iolo]

Preston surprised us as they haven’t been in good form lately. They were certainly up for this match and could have been out of sight by half time.
In the end they were the team that left frustrated, a win would have put them back on track for the play-offs. Tough.

[Iolo]

Boys, please try and get your shooting boots on for Saturday at Ipswich!
Bringing Key on at right-back and moving Galbraith to midfield worked a treat. Key impressed with several breakaway runs.
Ronald poor again but keeps on getting picked.

[Estoban]

Half and full time stats reveal the difference in the two halves.

First-half: Shots 3/11, On Target 0/2, Possession 52%/48%
Second-half: Shots 9/3, On Target 2/1, Possession 62%/38%