Following an absolutely brilliant start to the season, Swansea City have now gone five Premier League matches without a win. They entered Sunday's game seven places ahead of Stoke City in the table, but the Potters are now right next to the Swans in the standings after a 2-1 victory.
3 things we learned from Stoke City’s 2-1 comeback win over Swansea
Even though they made defensive substitutions in the second half, Stoke City were able to find a late goal to beat Swansea City.
The beginning of the match was wide open, with both teams counter-attacking each other quickly. Ki Sung-Yeung should have scored off a through ball by Gylfi Sigurdsson in the 10th minute, but was denied by Asmir Begovic. Stoke eventually recovered and set off attacking in the other direction, with Charlie Adam going on an impressive 60-yard individual run through the center, resulting in an attempt from 15 yards that went just wide.
Swansea got on the board first, with Michael Oliver whistling for a penalty in the 33rd minute. Ryan Shawcross was caught pulling down Wilfried Bony during a corner and the referee pointed to the spot, despite Stoke's protests. Bony took the penalty himself and calmly sent Begovic the wrong way to score easily.
Nine minutes later, Stoke answered by winning a penalty of their own. While Swansea's was arguably a bit soft, this one was even softer. Angel Rangel was the man whistled for pushing down Victor Moses, but he didn't make much contact, and the Chelsea loanee went down quite easily. Adam stepped up and matched Bony's effort, sending the teams into halftime level.
Little happened in the early part of the second half, leading to some curious substitutions. Despite being the home side, Stoke appeared to make changes to play for a draw, bringing on Geoff Cameron for Stephen Ireland and Jon Walters for Mame Diouf, making defensive swaps at two positions. Swansea responded by bringing Bafetimbi Gomis, a striker, on for midfielder Tom Carroll, while also making a like-for-like swap on the wing as Jefferson Montero entered for Nathan Dyer. Later, Stoke were forced into another change, with Oussama Assaidi replacing Victor Moses due to an injury.
Despite the nature of those subs, it was Stoke who scored the next goal, and their three substitutes were the three key components. Cameron intercepted a bad pass from Rangel and started an attack that featured multiple passes around the box before the ball was worked wide to Assaidi. He crossed to the back post, where Walters was waiting to head in.
Swansea had a great chance to score an equalizer in the 90th minute when Steven Nzonzi committed a foul 25 yards from goal, gifting the visitors a dangerous free kick opportunity. Ki got the ball up over the wall, but couldn’t beat Begovic. Wilfried Bony had a late chance as well, but mis-hit a shot well wide of the goal in stoppage time. Swansea got one last free kick opportunity in the 95th minute, with Gomis taking it instead of Ki, and he blasted well over the crossbar.
Stoke City: Begovic, Pieters, Wilson, Shawcross, Bardsley, Nzonzi, Adam, Moses (Assaidi 73’), Ireland (Cameron 62’), Diouf (Walters 62’), Crouch
Goals: Adam (pen 43’), Walters (76’)
Swansea City: Fabianski, Taylor, Williams, Fernandez, Rangel, Ki, Carroll (Gomis 65’), Routledge, Sigurdsson (Emnes 85’), Dyer (Montero 65’), Bony
Goals: Bony (pen 34’)
3 things
1. Michael Oliver is a hero: Ryan Shawcross has been getting away with fouling opponents on set pieces for his entire career. Someone finally gave him a penalty for it. This is a milestone moment in Premier League history.
2. Stoke win the subs battle: It's incredible that Stoke's subs worked so well, especially since it appeared that Mark Hughes was conceding that his team was best off playing defensively for the rest of the match. Rarely do three players come in, then almost immediately, all contribute to a winning goal.
3. Hey, play Geoff Cameron more!: This was Cameron's first Premier League appearance of the season, and he made the most of it by winning the ball and making a good pass to start the move that led to the winner. He seems to be quite a bit better than Steven Nzonzi at ... well, everything. Maybe Mark Hughes should play him.
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