Swansea 2 Sunderland 1: Highlights after defeat at the Swansea.com Stadium despite Jack Clarke goal
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The Black Cats fell behind in the 13th minute when Luke Cundle’s effort deflected off Luke O’Nien and past goalkeeper Anthony Patterson.
It was a tough first half for Tony Mowbray’s side as the hosts dominated possession and doubled their lead through Harry Darling on the stroke of half-time.
Sunderland pulled a goal back through Jack Clarke at the start of the second half but couldn’t salvage a point.
Here’s how the game played out:
RECAP: Swansea 2 (Cooper, 13) (Darling, 45) Sunderland 1 (Clarke, 51)
Key Events
- Sunderland XI: Patterson, Gooch, Batth, O’Nien, Alese, Evans, Neil (Ba, 77), Embleton (Matete, 77), Roberts (Bennette, 63), Pritchard (Amad, 77), Clarke
- Subs: Bass, Cirkin, Wright, Ba, Matete, Bennette, Amad
- Swansea XI: Benda, Wood (Sorinola, 77), Darling, Cabango, Latibeadiere, Fulton, Grimes, Manning, Piroe (Oko-Flex, 87), Cooper (Ntcham, 58), Cundle (Obafemi, 58) , Piroe
- Subs: Fisher, Naughton, Sorinola, Stevens, Ntcham, Oko-Flex, Obafemi
It’s Matchday!
Sunderland are back on the road this weekend as Tony Mowbray’s side travel to Swansea in the Championship.
The Black Cats will be looking to get back to winning ways after three consecutive draws, yet it won’t be easy against a Swans side who have won their last three matches.
We’ll have all the build-up ahead of the match, as well as in-game analysis and post-match reaction.
Stick around and refresh the page for live updates.
Team news
As always, we’ll start with the Sunderland team news.
Strikers Ross Stewart (thigh) and Ellis Simms (toe) remain sidelined as Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray looks to find tactical solutions in their absence.
Manchester United loanee Amad played up front against Blackpool on Tuesday, with Mowbray urging the 20-year-old to be more ruthless in the box.
Midfielder Dan Neil could return to the side after starting on the bench against Blackpool last time out, while defender Dennis Cirkin is expected to return to the squad following a hamstring issue.
Mowbray on Swansea
Here’s what Mowbray had to say about Swansea in Thursday’s press conference, following the Swans’ last-minute winner against Watford:
“Their record recently is very good, I think it’s four of the last five that they’ve won.
“It shows that in this division things can change very quickly and that three points at any time is massive for any team in this division.
“I’m looking forward to a really good game of football on Saturday, I have to say. I think they’re a really good team, a really good possession-based team who want to dominate the ball. It’s a really good test for us, to see if we can deal with their shape and their possession, and whether they can deal with us as well.
“To score the goals we did against Watford and Reading suggests that maybe there is a bit more space for us to play away from home, so let’s hope that is the scenario.
“Swansea move the ball through the lines really well, at times they push the wing backs really high and so if we catch them at the right moment, as it is for every time, they can be vulnerable.
“We’ll go there with a game plan and we’ll see how we get on.”
How Swansea are shaping up
To find out more about Swansea, we caught up with Swans journalist Guto Llewelyn, columnist for Wales Online, on the latest episode of The Roar Podcast.
Here’s what he said when asked about the side’s key players:
“Joel Piroe is probably our best player, he was just a real bargain. We brought him in for just over £1million and last season he scored more than 20 league goals.
“He’s a really intelligent striker, he’s not always involved in the game but whenever he does get on the ball he makes things happen. He’s just very graceful, good touches and gets into good positions.
“Michael Obafemi on his day is one of the most dangerous strikers in the Championship, it’s not all gone to plan with him this season but when he’s in the team he’s a threat.
“We’re seeing the midfield is key for us and we’re seeing Matt Grimes have some really good performances. He just keeps things ticking over.
“The defence has also shone through and we’ve seen more solidity at the back. Nathan Wood, who was brought in from Middlesbrough, seemed to be unwanted up there, he’s been a revelation and been our best defender.”
Martin on Sunderland
Here’s what Swansea boss Russell Martin had to say about Sunderland:
"We’ve watched quite a bit of them and we really like how they play.
"They have lots of energy, really good players and they’ve kept the same momentum that they had in League One.
“They’ve got some really excellent players and a really good togetherness. It’s not an easy game at all."
“We have spoken about needing everyone, some people put in a huge shift on Wednesday and Sunderland have had an extra day to prepare having played at home on Tuesday night.
“We will take it all into account and those conversations will continue because we want to put out a team that is capable of playing with the same energy and intensity.”
Predicted line-ups
Here are our predicted line-ups for today’s match:
Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson; Gooch, Batth, O’Nien, Alese; Evans, Neil; Roberts, Pritchard, Clarke; Amad
Predicted Swansea XI: Benda; Wood, Naughton, Cabango; Sorinola, Fulton, Grimes, Manning: Piroe, Ntcham: Obafemi
