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Match Analysis: Swansea City 1-1 Chelsea

Match Analysis: Swansea 1-1 Chelsea
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Sports Mole takes a closer look at Saturday's 1-1 draw between Swansea and Chelsea at the Liberty Stadium.

Chelsea headed into Saturday's match against Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium knowing that a win would return them to the top of the Premier League table following Manchester United's win over Arsenal earlier in the day.

The Blues were on course to claim the three points when Victor Moses opportunistically nodded home on the hour, but the Swans bagged a deserved equaliser with three minutes left to play thanks to Pablo Hernandez's measured strike.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the 90 minutes between the two sides.

Match statistics:

Swansea:
Shots 9
On target 7
Possession 46%
Corners 8
Fouls 12

Chelsea:
Shots 11
On target 7
Possession 54%
Corners 6
Fouls 9

Was the result fair?

Definitely. While Chelsea may have had the better chances in front of goal, Swansea always looked threatening on the break and gave their opponents plenty of problems.

Swansea's performance

Michael Laudrup's men weren't afraid to stick to the passing style that earned them a win at Liverpool in midweek. The midfield was typically tireless, while Michu was a constant danger up front.

Chelsea's performance

Juan Mata's absence didn't appear to hinder the visitors too much as Eden Hazard, Oscar and Victor Moses did their best to unlock the Swansea defence. However, Fernando Torres was back to his ineffectual self in attack and did little to trouble the home side.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Eden Hazard: The Belgian often took matters upon himself to earn his side the win and was at the heart of any decent Chelsea attack with his guile and invention.

Biggest gaffe of the game

Fernando Torres could have given his side the lead in the first half, but the Spanish striker got his header all wrong with the goal at his mercy.

Referee performance

Kevin Friend was consistent throughout the contest and did his best to keep the cards in his pocket.

What next?

Swansea: The Welsh club travel to struggling Southampton in the league on Saturday.

Chelsea: It's back to the Champions League for the Blues on Tuesday as they welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to Stamford Bridge.

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