Swans v Blackburn | Vital Football

Swans v Blackburn

keith margam

Vital Football Legend
Swans v Blackburn Sat 5 Feb 17:30
Just what we do not need at this time. Top of the form charts over 10 games and second in the table Blackburn arrive on Saturday to play us in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
Last time out they drew 0-0 at Luton, where they were without 20 goal striker Ben Brereton Diaz, and striker Sam Gallagher went off with concussion at half-time.
Not that we aren’t capable of holding Blackburn. We went to QPR and held them to a draw and dropping their first points in 6 games, so there is hope.
In the reverse fixture last August, RM’s first game in charge, we lost 2-1 with the above two strikers scoring one apiece.
With 72% possession, Jamie Paterson scored on his debut, but we missed a handful of chances to equalise (sound familiar?).
Blackburn had won their first opening fixture in 10 years and Tony Mowbray said after the match -
“For us we're a young team, energetic, athletic and we tried to play on the front foot and take it off them. I felt we should have been in front by more than one goal at half-time and we created enough opportunities to not be hanging on at the end.
It shouldn't have been as close as that but they're a good side. We take the points and move on.”
The team that day -
Benda, Cabango, Bennett, Latibeaudiere, Naughton, Paterson, Bidwell, Grimes, Smith, Cullen, Lowe.
 
Paterson starts, Downes plays in the middle of a back three, Wolf and Christie wing-backs:

Swans: Andy Fisher, Ben Cabango, Flynn Downes, Ryan Manning, Cyrus Christie, Olivier Ntcham, Matt Grimes (c), Hannes Wolf, Jamie Paterson, Joel Piroe, Michael Obafemi.
Subs: Ben Hamer, Ryan Bennett, Jay Fulton, Korey Smith, Kyle Joseph, Joel Latibeaudiere, Finley Burns.
 
Swansea 1 - Blackburn 0
First half we went ahead on 16 mins when Paterson, out for 5 games, supplied the deep cross for Obafemi to head home his second goal of the season
Fantastic backs to the wall defensive display kept out the second highest scorers in the Championship, Blackburn, for 41 minutes, after Manning was sent off on 53 mins for a second booking.
I thought Blackburn’s 26 Darragh Lenihan tried to get Manning his second yellow, exaggerating the impact of the tackle, and the ref duly obliged.
This was much better from the Swans and I hope we can build on this win.
A few interesting facts from the match:
Andy Fisher is an ex-Blackburn goalkeeper.
Ryan Giles, on loan from Wolves, was on loan at Cardiff earlier in the season and we were interested in taking him on loan but Blackburn beat us to it. He has the highest number of goal assists in the league.
There was an ex-Swan in the Blackburn side today, Ryan Hedges. He was subbed on 60 mins for their 20 goal striker Brereton-Diaz
 
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Great to see the other side to our game when it was needed. Could have been a blessing the sending off, we defended with a back 5 and 6 at times and Cabango and Bennett cleared away everything that came their way. They were rather one dimensional against us after the sending off I thought and we kept them out.

A huge 3 points that were very much needed, now a tricky trip away to Stoke on Tuesday.
 
Watch the highlights as Lenihan and Manning clash.
Manning, eye on the ball tries to clear.
High boot by Manning to Lenihan’s arm as they collide.
Lenihan goes down rolling on the floor and clutching his head!
Van Hecke and Hedges try to bully the ref into giving a second yellow and it worked.