Swansea City’s star striker Wilfried Bony came off the bench to net an injury time equaliser at QPR before he jets off for African Cup of Nations duty.
The top scorer of 2014 didn’t need long to get off and running in 2015, just 20 minutes to find the net after replacing Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Garry Monk’s side had dominated large spells of the game but had wasted some excellent chances before Leroy Fer fired in a superb shot from outside the box after controlling Fernandez’s poor headed clearance.
The big news before kick off was Monk’s decision to leave Bony on the bench in what would be his last game before he flies off for the African Cup of Nations.
The big news after the game was the extremely controversial decision by the referee to send off Wayne Routledge for simply showing a bit of frustration after escaping a nasty challenge. The winger has complained about the tackle and threw his arms up in disgust but somehow, the referee or his assistant has seen something that’s red-card worthy, but later replays showed there was nothing to punish him for. Manager Garry Monk will of course appeal the decision and it surely be rescinded.
It would of course add to the speculation linking the striker with big money moves away, but after looking lively when he replaced him at Liverpool on Monday night, Bafetimbi Gomis needs games now and he gave him his chance to shine at QPR.
The Frenchman missed a number of first half chances as those chances kept going off target, it was becoming clear that Wilfried Bony would probably be needed in order for the Swans to find the back of the net.
Monk made three changes to the team that lost 4-1 at Liverpool, Gomis replaced Bony, Ki returned to replace the suspended Shelvey and Rangel started again instead of Jazz Richards.
QPR didn’t offer a great deal going forward early on but the Swansea defence still looked vulnerable and far from the solid outfit they looked earlier on this season.
There was a lack of organisation and discipline at times amongst the back line but QPR weren’t able to punish them until Fernandez’s awful headed clearance fell nicely for Leroy Fer. The winger controlled the ball, allowed it to drop and he had the time and space to line up a fierce drive past Fabianski and into the left corner of the net.
Gylfi Sigurdsson was effective for the Swans and was playing some neat balls through for the likes of Routledge and Gomis but they were lacking that extra bit of quality needed to beat Rob Green – who was lucky to stay on the pitch after handling the ball outside of his area.
Charlie Austin and Bobby Zamora had both missed decent chances for the hosts but it wasn’t until the second half when Swansea’s hopes of getting at least a point really looked in danger.
Fabianski parried a fierce shot from 25 yards before Barton and Austin fail to find the net with close range headers.
After QPR’s best chances, the Swans dominated and pushed the hosts back into their own half. Federico Fernandez should have made up for his first half error but he couldn’t find the net – heading with from Sigurdsson’s free kick.
Sigurdsson then had an effort himself following good work from Gomis to provide him with the chance but his curling shot flew just wide of the post.
Fer flashed a fierce shot just wide and after his stunning opener, you expected the midfielder to bury a chance from just outside the box.
As expected, Bony then came on for Sigurdsson as Monk left on Gomis and with Emnes also on for Dyer, Swansea City were really going for it with 20 minutes to play.
After Bony had one effort saved by Rob Green, he took his next chance with a stunning shot from inside the box as Swansea managed to carve out an equaliser with 10 men following Routledge’s shocking sending off.
Ki did brilliantly to move the ball inside before passing into Bony, the striker got the ball out of his feet and poked the ball past Green.
It was a point that was deserved for the Swans after missing a host of chances throughout. Hopefully, Gomis can grow into the side, his general play was pretty good but he failed to do what he’s paid to and that’s to find the back of the net.
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