Garry Monk led Swansea City to a memorable South Wales derby victory over Cardiff City this evening in his first game in charge following the midweek sacking of Michael Laudrup.
After a dull first 45 minutes, the home side opened the scoring within a couple of minutes of the second through Wayne Routledge.
Further goals were added by Nathan Dyer and Wilfried Bony as the Swans climbed into the top half of the Premier League table.
Here, Sports Mole dissects the action on a wet night at the Liberty Stadium.
Match statistics
Swansea
Shots: 17
On target: 6
Possession: 62%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 7
Cardiff
Shots: 7
On target: 1
Possession: 38%
Corners: 1
Fouls: 8
Was the result fair?
Yep. There was little of note in the first half but Monk rallied his side better than opposite number Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the dressing room at the interval. The Swans got the early goal and from then on it was plain sailing for the men in white.
Swansea's performance
The hosts saw plenty of the ball in the opening period but looked ever so nervous in the final third. That all changed after half time and it was Monk's substitute Pablo Hernandez who brilliantly rolled in Routledge to open the scoring. Cardiff offered little up front and defensively Swansea never looked like letting one in. A great start under Monk, who knows that if he can prove his worth, the permanent job is his.
Cardiff's performance
That's now five defeats in their last six for Cardiff, who weren't at their best today. They didn't have a single shot on target in the second period and the one that they did have was a speculative long-range volley from Peter Whittingham. Talisman Craig Bellamy tried his hardest and was unlucky when he thwacked the bar. Apart from him, Cardiff were poor and are in desperate need of some points.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Wayne Routledge: He didn't panic at all when presented with the chance to break the deadlock. It would have been easy to shoot earlier than he did but he waited and waited until David Marshall had committed himself before tucking home. As well as the goal, he also sent over the cross for Dyer to head in the second.
Biggest gaffe
Although Bellamy was Cardiff's best player, he made a bad decision in the first half by not taking the ball on himself because he thought he was offside. He left it to Whittingham, who got crowded out, but if he had just turned and shot, things could have been very different.
Referee performance
Andre Marriner had few tough calls to make. The hardest one probably came inside the opening five minutes when Bony tried to round Marshall and tumbled under the challenge of the Cardiff keeper. Marriner waved 'play on' and he was right to as Marshall clearly swiped the ball out with his right hand.
What next?
Swansea: Next up for the Swans is a trip to Stoke City on Wednesday night, the first of seven fixtures in the next 22 days for Monk's men.
Cardiff: Cardiff, meanwhile, host Aston Villa in another big game in the bottom half on Tuesday evening.
Pascal Lemesre
