Swansea City cruised to their second Premier League win of the season this afternoon by beating Crystal Palace 2-0 at Selhurst Park.
The visitors made a perfect start to the match as Michu fired the ball past Julian Speroni with less than two minutes on the clock, before hitting the post moments later.
The Swans made a similar start to the second period, with Nathan Dyer sweeping home to complete the scoring within three minutes of the restart.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at a comfortable afternoon for Michael Laudrup's side.
Match statistics:
Crystal Palace:
Shots 9
On target 1
Possession 43%
Corners 6
Fouls 13
Swansea:
Shots 15
On target 7
Possession 57%
Corners 7
Fouls 9
Was the result fair?
Absolutely. Swansea made a blistering start to the match and, while they didn't keep that tempo up for the full 90 minutes, it knocked the wind out of Palace very early on. The Eagles could not get close to Swansea for large periods of the match as Laudrup's side knocked the ball about confidently and quickly. The home crowd did their best to lift the Palace players, but every supporter in the stadium would agree that Swansea deserved to come away with all three points and, in truth, it could have been more than a two-goal margin.
Crystal Palace's performance
Very disappointing. After decent, albeit losing, performances against the likes Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, manager Ian Holloway will have been livid to see his side go down to Swansea with such a whimper. They failed to create a really good chance in the match, coming closest to with shots from outside the box that Michel Vorm had covered when they whistled over the bar. They were playing against a Swansea side in top form, but Palace will have to improve significantly if they are to stay in the Premier League this season.
Swansea's performance
The perfect end to an almost perfect week. Having beaten Valencia so convincingly on Thursday in the Europa League, Swansea quashed any concerns of fatigue and picked up where they left off. They started both halves brilliantly and could have conceivably been 3-0 up within five minutes of the first. They passed the ball about neatly from start to finish and Palace could not cope with their free-flowing football at times. Swansea will certainly face tougher teams than Palace this season but, if they play like they did today, they will fancy their chances against anyone.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Michu: At the heart of all of Swansea's good football was Michu. He provided an important link between the midfield and Alvaro Vazquez until the latter went off, and then continued to play the role in a more advanced position. He was guilty on a couple of occasions of trying to be too clever, but overall he was the man who Palace struggled to deal with most. His performance warranted the early goal and he could have had more.
Biggest gaffe
He may have been man of the match, but Michu was also responsible for the gaffe of the game. As the ball was fed into him from the wing, he had a relatively easy shot available to him that he would have expected to score from. Instead, he tried to be too cute and flicked the ball on to a teammate at the far post. Had it come off, one would be singing his praises, but it didn't and it wasted a good chance for his side with the score at 1-0.
Referee performance
This was one of the easier games Kevin Friend will have had to officiate. He did not have a great deal to do, with the only real flash point coming when Angel Rangel reacted angrily to a tackle from Dean Moxey. Friend calmed the situation down, flashed a couple of yellow cards and that was the end of it. Good refereeing.
What next?
Crystal Palace: Points are becoming paramount for Palace already this season, but their next trip is not an easy one as they face Southampton at St Mary's Stadium next Saturday.
Swansea: Swansea, meanwhile, will travel to the Midlands to take on Birmingham City in the League Cup on Wednesday.
Barney Corkhill
