Swansea fans finished the match singing "we are top of the league..." which was a fitting summary of the game and of where we find ourselves (8th) after ten games played.
Jonathan Leko lit the match-up with a cracking shot which may have taken a deflection into the top left-hand corner of the Swansea goal after less than two minutes. Charlton were pumped and played some great football in the opening twenty minutes which was very promising. Ominously, despite the slick midfield passing and movement of the front two, we didn't create another scoring chance and the Swans settled into the game.
Before the match I read that they were a big side but apart from the two centre-backs and the centre forward, they were actually on the smaller side but they played very neat pass and move football which brought them back into the match. Things evened out before they scored their equaliser. Several calculated passes in and around our box lead to Dhanda being allowed to shoot from twelve yards and his shot took a decisive deflection to beat Phillips. It was no more than they deserved and they continued to press us when they got the chance.
Our midfield of Gallagher, Oztumer, Cullen and Field were competitive but we again lacked any real hold-up play from the front two. Bonne and Leko were playing in more advanced attacking positions and closer together but very little stuck with them or lead to any follow-on play.
After the break Swansea struck first from a corner which Ayew got to ahead of a posse of bodies and forced home in front of the Swansea supporters. At this point it looked like job done and to some extent it was. Bowyer threw Williams and Anneke on but the midfield was already choked and try as he might, Williams couldn't get enough time on the ball to do any damage. Chuks Anneke harassed the Swansea back line but he struggled to beat his man or create anything.
Frustration crept into the Charlton performance and we picked up a couple of silly bookings - Conor Gallagher's was especially naive. Jake Forster-Caskey was thrown on for Purrington in an attempt to give us more attacking impetus but it made little difference. Swansea saw out the added five minutes and now sit clear, top-of-the-league.
Perhaps this won't look such a bad result come May but without Taylor and with tough fixtures queueing up, I suspect we are heading into the bottom-half of the table. We really need Hemed or Beram to get fit quickly and add something, although the back-story of both suggests they may offer little more than we already have. No shame in that given our budget (and particularly our striking shortcomings) but I do wonder if we might suffer an equally damaging dip in confidence. I should pinch myself and remember we have Bowyer at the helm. He won't let that happen, will he?
Jonathan Leko lit the match-up with a cracking shot which may have taken a deflection into the top left-hand corner of the Swansea goal after less than two minutes. Charlton were pumped and played some great football in the opening twenty minutes which was very promising. Ominously, despite the slick midfield passing and movement of the front two, we didn't create another scoring chance and the Swans settled into the game.
Before the match I read that they were a big side but apart from the two centre-backs and the centre forward, they were actually on the smaller side but they played very neat pass and move football which brought them back into the match. Things evened out before they scored their equaliser. Several calculated passes in and around our box lead to Dhanda being allowed to shoot from twelve yards and his shot took a decisive deflection to beat Phillips. It was no more than they deserved and they continued to press us when they got the chance.
Our midfield of Gallagher, Oztumer, Cullen and Field were competitive but we again lacked any real hold-up play from the front two. Bonne and Leko were playing in more advanced attacking positions and closer together but very little stuck with them or lead to any follow-on play.
After the break Swansea struck first from a corner which Ayew got to ahead of a posse of bodies and forced home in front of the Swansea supporters. At this point it looked like job done and to some extent it was. Bowyer threw Williams and Anneke on but the midfield was already choked and try as he might, Williams couldn't get enough time on the ball to do any damage. Chuks Anneke harassed the Swansea back line but he struggled to beat his man or create anything.
Frustration crept into the Charlton performance and we picked up a couple of silly bookings - Conor Gallagher's was especially naive. Jake Forster-Caskey was thrown on for Purrington in an attempt to give us more attacking impetus but it made little difference. Swansea saw out the added five minutes and now sit clear, top-of-the-league.
Perhaps this won't look such a bad result come May but without Taylor and with tough fixtures queueing up, I suspect we are heading into the bottom-half of the table. We really need Hemed or Beram to get fit quickly and add something, although the back-story of both suggests they may offer little more than we already have. No shame in that given our budget (and particularly our striking shortcomings) but I do wonder if we might suffer an equally damaging dip in confidence. I should pinch myself and remember we have Bowyer at the helm. He won't let that happen, will he?
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