Less than a week after firing manager Michael Laudrup for a string of poor results that brought them close to the drop zone, Swansea City now look very much clear of that race after a brilliant second half performance in the South Wales Derby. The debut of center back turned interim manager Garry Monk couldn't have gone any better, as the Swans dispatched of Cardiff City, 3-0.
Swansea vs. Cardiff: Final score 3-0, Garry Monk’s debut a brilliant one
A dull first half gave way to a brilliant second half performance from Swansea, who had little problem dispatching of Cardiff.
The first half was rather uneventful going both ways, though Swansea had an early penalty shout. David Marshall made a challenge on Wayne Routledge that caused the winger to go down in the box, but the referee judged that Marshall had made a clean tackle. The rest of the half saw Swansea control the game, Cardiff counter and very few shots.
Monk made a change at halftime, introducing Pablo Hernandez in the place of Marvin Emnes. That substitution paid off in less than two minutes, with Hernandez setting up the game’s opening goal. He played an absolutely brilliant through ball into the path of Routledge, who found enough space to beat Marshall from the left side of the penalty area.
Craig Bellamy hit the crossbar for Cardiff in the 51st minute, but very little happened for the Bluebirds after that. They were hardly incisive on the counter and frequently depended on Wilfried Zaha to generate attacks on his own. Unsurprisingly, he was not able to be a one-man wrecking machine.
The game was all but put to bed in the 79th minute when Nathan Dyer doubled Swansea's lead, heading in a cross by Routledge. Wilfried Bony finished the game off for good six minutes later, nodding in a free kick by Hernandez to seal a massive result for Swansea.
Swansea: Vorm, Davies, Williams, Chico, Rangel, Britton, De Guzman (Canas 69’), Routledge, Emnes (Hernandez 45’), Dyer (Taylor 88’), Bony
Goals: Routledge (47’), Dyer (79’), Bony (85’)
Cardiff: Marshall, Fabio (McNaughton 69’), Caulker, Turner, John, Medel, Whittingham, Zaha (Mutch 77’), Bellamy, Kim, Jones (Campbell 56’)
Goals: None
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