Three goals in the first half allowed Swansea to cruise to a fairly painless home victory over third place West Brom. Wayne Routledge led the way for the Swans with a brace, with Michu scoring the third for Michael Laudrup's side.
Swansea City vs. West Bromwich Albion: Final score 3-1, Swans down Baggies with a first half barrage
Swansea did all their damage in the first half putting three goals past West Brom and coasting home in the second half for the victory.
Swansea's first goal came in the 9th minute. Nathan Dyer sent a cross over the West Brom that found Pablo Hernández who promptly centered the ball to a waiting Michu who buried his shot past Boaz Myhill.
Two minutes later, the Swans struck for a second goal. Again it was Hernández on the left side causing problems, working in to space before finding Wayne Routledge in front of the goal. His shot was slightly deflected by a sliding West Brom defender, but it wasn't enough to stop it from finding its way past Myhill, giving Swansea a 2-0 lead.
The Baggies appeared to have settled things down a bit as the first half progressed, not really looking all that great but at least preventing Swansea from extending their lead...for awhile.
In the 38th minute, Swansea again exploited the left wing with Ben Davies making the run. His low cross, got past the West Brom defense and found Routledge parked in space in the box, who easily scored his second goal of the half.
West Brom pulled one goal back right before halftime as Romelu Lukaku was unmarked high in the box on a corner and calmy blasted Chris Brunt's well place delivery past Gerhard Tremmel. If nothing else it gave Steve Clarke something positive to build off during halftime.
The Baggies were much better in the second half, putting some consistent pressure on Swansea and doing a much better job of closing down the Swans attack. Of course, they still needed two goals and they simply would not come.
A disappointing performance for West Brom and a solid win for Swansea as they continue to inch their way up the table.
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