Oxford v Swansea

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Oxford v Swansea Mon 29 Dec 19:45
Second-half of the season starts with this match and within only a few weeks of last meeting them we play the return match at Oxford. They had a big home win against Southampton yesterday to close the gap on us as we floundered at Coventry. If we had taken our chances it could have been a different outcome there but the reality is that it was another defeat on the road.
This match is now a big six pointer and we will have to be at our best to get something at the compact Kassam Stadium.
We are playing better under Matos, you can see what he is trying to do, but individual mistakes are costing us. Yesterday we looked a decent side, but vulnerability to the long throw-ins, which are such a big part of football games recently, is not a good trait. We didn’t actually touch the ball as it was thrown into the box and headed on to the deadly Mason-Clark who swivelled and fired home, with his marker Vipotnik mesmerised. One lapse in concentration, one goal conceded and the three points gone.
We are not creating enough chances, we need Galbraith back in midfield and we need a quality right-back replacement in the Transfer Window to bolster the defence, Key’s confidence is shot and he needs time out. We also need a right-winger who can actually beat his marker and put in decent crosses, Ronald is not the answer at the moment unfortunately.

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Marko Stamenic:

“We all believe these performances will translate into results, we’re at the midway point in the season now, so we’ve got to turn it around”

https://www.swanseacity.com/news/mar...ts-will-follow

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Cullen and Idah injured for Swansea
Ex-Swan Placheta playing for Oxford

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

Oxford: Jamie Cumming, Ciaron Brown, Michal Helik (c), Przemyslaw Placheta, Luke Harris, Brian De Keersmaecker, Brodie Spencer, Nik Prelec, Stanley Mills, Tyler Goodrham, Jack Currie.
Subs: Matt Ingram, Sam Long, Will Vaulks, Mark Harris, Ole Romenij, Greg Leigh, Siriki Dembele, Will Lankshear, Filip Krastev.

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Oxford 0 - Swansea 1 (Vipotnik 13’)
Not a classic match but a dogged fight. Swans the better side but again were unable to put their chances away, great up to the final third but couldn’t cross the ball accurately, nor get many shots on target.
The exception was Tymon’s great cross directly on to Vipotnik’s head for him to nod home his 12th goal of the season.
A scrappy affair with the ref gullible to the exaggerated Oxford reactions to mostly anonymous fouls, with four Swans players booked to one of Oxford.
However none of it matters, we won, we got the 3 points from this game, which was a six-pointer relegation battle and we consequently climbed seven points clear of third from bottom Oxford, easing the pressure ahead of another tough game on Thursday.
A sigh of relief is allowed!

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Match highlights

https://www.skysports.com/football/o.../report/534601

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Match report

https://www.swanseacity.com/news/rep...swansea-city-1

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Head coach reaction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uRu0u4AxrU

[Estoban]

I must admit to having a bad feeling about losing this match, so to break our sequence of five consecutive away defeats with a win was heartwarming.
If we had lost this one we would have been only a point off the bottom three, that’s how big a win it was.
Onwards and Upwards with the Swans!

[Iolo]

Hi guys, Iolo here to enlighten your day, ha ha!
Big result last night, defeat was unthinkable as we have two more tough games this week.
How we manage the players through this intense playing schedule will be important for the outcome.
Already Idah (hamstring) and Cullen (calf) are out injured.
I see last night Matos tried to spread the load using the five allowed substitutes, but leading scorer Vipotnik stayed on for the full 95 minutes. With replacement Idah out, there’s only the inexperienced Wales left as his back-up.
Hopefully Vips is made of strong stuff, we need him playing every match as we struggle for anybody else able to score the goals.
Last night so many shots misfired, wide, over the bar. Shooting practice needed!

[Iolo]

I see Coventry lost their unbeaten home record last night, 0-2 to Ipswich.
We could have beaten them last Friday too, those big chances we had from Vipotnik and especially Cullen.
Norwich lost at home to Watford, Portsmouth beat Charlton, it’s tight down there.
We must keep on picking up points to pull away from the danger zone, we are not clear yet.