Swansea City secured their second home win of the season, beating Newcastle United 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium this evening.
Nathan Dyer opened the scoring at the end of the first half before Jonjo Shelvey had an effort parried in off Mathieu Debuchy, before adding a third late on.
Sports Mole looks back at the match to see whether the result was fair on Alan Pardew's side.
Match statistics:
Swansea:
Shots 11
On target 5
Possession 66%
Corners 5
Fouls 4
Newcastle:
Shots 14
On target 3
Possession 34%
Corners 1
Fouls 8
Was the result fair?
A Swansea win was definitely the right result, but the 3-0 scoreline seems a little harsh on Newcastle. The visitors struggled to create much up front, but defended well to keep Swansea out for the majority of the first half. The visitors will feel particularly aggrieved by the third goal, which was scored by Jonjo Shelvey, who could have been sent off for a headbutt incident shortly before the strike. However, there is no doubting that Swansea were good value for their victory this evening.
Swansea's performance
Michael Laudrup's men were superb from the start, bringing an attacking style of play from kickoff. The home side dominated the second half and defended well when the visitors did manage to create a chance. Alvaro Vazquez and Pozuelo looked impressive in a makeshift attack, and will give Swansea hope while Michu and Wilfried Bony continue to recovery from injuries. Meanwhile, Jonathan de Guzman and Shelvey were mighty in midfield, regularly stretching the Newcastle defence.
Newcastle's performance
To be honest, Newcastle rarely threatened their opponents' goalline. The visitors had some good chances, notably a close-range header for Loic Remy in the first half, but they were unable to sustain periods of pressure and really test their opponents. Yohan Cabaye and Yoan Gouffran both worked hard in a bid to provide Remy with service up front, but they struggled to get the better of a well-organised Swansea defence.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Jonjo Shelvey: Setting the potential red card incident to one side, Shelvey really made the difference in the second half. The former Liverpool midfielder was fairly quiet in the first half, but looked determined to come away with a goal after the break, creating the chance that resulted in Debuchy's own goal before lashing in a third inside the final 10 minutes. The only blot on his performance was the "headbutt" incident between the 21-year-old and Debuchy. In his post-match interview, Shelvey claimed that the head-to-head contact was accidental, but he may have been a little lucky that Howard Webb appeared to miss the incident.
Biggest gaffe
There were no real howlers to mention, but Davide Santon's first-half effort stands out. While his team were struggling to get forward and create goal-scoring opportunities, the defender took matters into his own hands, delivering a frankly woeful strike from 25 yards out.
Referee performance
Howard Webb had very little to do in a well-mannered first half, but missed a couple of big decisions in the second half. Firstly, there was the Shelvey incident, which should have resulted in a red card for the goalscorer. Meanwhile, there were also two penalty shouts for the visitors. While the first would have been a harsh decision, Ashley Williams definitely gave Gouffran a bit of a shove for the second shout, which also resulted in Swansea's second goal from a counter attack while Newcastle appealed. Alan Pardew stated after the match that he will be seeking clarification over the decisions from the referee, and I can understand why.
What next?
Swansea: Swansea are back in action on Monday when they host Hull City.
Newcastle: Tonight's visitors face another tricky trip at the weekend as they face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
Sian Cowper
