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Swansea logo
Premier League
Sep 16, 2013 at 8pm UK
 
Liverpool logo

2-2

Shelvey (2'), Michu (64')
FT(HT: 1-2)
Sturridge (4'), Moses (36')

Match Analysis: Swansea City 2-2 Liverpool

Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at this evening's entertaining 2-2 draw between Swansea and Liverpool at the Liverpool at the Liberty Stadium.

Liverpool dropped their first points of the season this evening but still moved back top of the table courtesy of a 2-2 draw with Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.

It was an eventful day for Jonjo Shelvey, who became the first player to score past Liverpool in the league this season after just two minutes.

Shelvey's elation turned to desperation just a couple of minutes later, however, as his poor pass allowed Daniel Sturridge through on goal, and the in-form striker made no mistake to net his fourth league goal of the season.

Shelvey was again at fault for his former side's second goal, gifting the ball to Victor Moses who went on to net a debut goal from the edge of the box.

The young England midfielder redeemed himself in the second half, however, nodding the ball into the path of Michu, who swept it past Simon Mignolet for his first goal of the season.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at an entertaining 90 minutes of Premier League football.

Match statistics:

Swansea:
Shots 17
On target 8
Possession 58%
Corners 3
Fouls 7

Liverpool:
Shots 12
On target 5
Possession 42%
Corners 7
Fouls 10

Was the result fair?

Yes. Both teams will be slightly disappointed not to have come away with all three points as they both had chances to do so, but all in all a draw was a fair result on the day. Liverpool certainly had the better of the first half from the third minute onwards and deserved their lead at half time, but the hosts hit back in the second 45 minutes and put the Reds under a lot of pressure late on. The statistics are slightly skewed due to that late pressure, but it was an even game on the whole.

Swansea's performance

A mixed bag from Swansea. They have certainly improved from their opening day defeat at the hands of Manchester United but are not yet at their free-flowing best of last season. They looked like the team that was most likely to win it in the closing stages and kept Liverpool penned back for much of the last 20 minutes or so, but the first-half performance didn't match that. The Swans will feel aggrieved that both of the goals they conceded came from their own mistakes, but they also be happy that they managed to fight back and score twice against a defence that has proved itself to be stubborn so far this season.

Liverpool's performance

Again, a mixed bag. In the first half they looked ready to continue their 100% start to the season as Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho caused the Swansea defence problems, but as the second half wore on they became less and less of an attacking threat - notably after the departure of Coutinho. Perhaps more worryingly for manager Brendan Rodgers, his defence looked very shaky at times, with debutant Mamadou Sakho in particular being caught out of position on a number of occasions. Rodgers will be happy to have remained unbeaten in what was a tough match and there are certainly plenty of positives to take from the performance, but there is also room for improvement.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Jonjo Shelvey: This time the man of the match award is not going to the player who necessarily had the best game, but the one who made the biggest impact. That was undoubtedly Jonjo Shelvey this evening as he had a big part to plat in all four goals. His mistakes rule him out of the running for a traditional man of the match award, but he deserves credit for bouncing back to set up his side's equaliser, particularly considering how distraught he looked at the start of the second half. It was certainly an eventful evening for the former Liverpool man.

Biggest gaffe

Unfortunately for Shelvey, there is only one winner here. You can take your pick as to which mistake was worse, but the one that wins the award here is his first misplaced pass that allowed Sturridge clean through on goal. Shelvey put the chance on a plate for Sturridge, while he merely went out and bought the ingredients for Moses, who still had a lot to do. The fact that Sturridge's goal came so soon after Shelvey had opened the scoring himself just serves to add to the mistake.

Referee performance

Michael Oliver had a strong game overall. He had a quiet first half, which is always a good sign for a ref, but was forced into a fair amount of action in the second period, flashing a few cards to players from either side. A couple of the cautions were perhaps a bit harsh, but overall he got most of the decisions right and dealt with any potential flare-ups, such as the one between Shelvey and Lucas, very well.

What next?

Swansea: Next up for Swansea is the continuation of their European adventure as they travel to Spain to face Valencia in the Europa League on Thursday.

Liverpool: For Liverpool, their next action comes in the Premier League when they take on Southampton in what will be the final game of Luis Suarez's suspension.

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Swansea's Michu celebrates after grabbing a late equaliser against Liverpool on September 16, 2013
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