Luke Moore scored his first Swansea City goal as Brendan Rodgers’ side eased to a 3-0 win against a struggling Doncaster Rovers side – who were only able to name 5 players amongst ther substitutes.
Scott Sinclair netted his 19th goal in the 5th minute before Ashley Williams got a vital second 6 minutes before half time.
This match was billed as one between two of the best footballing sides in the division, but it has to be said it was only Swansea showing attacking quality in front of 13,000 fans at the Liberty Stadium.
Rovers were missing key players and it showed as they failed to get a shot on goal or even win a single corner kick.
Luke Moore finally got his first goal of the club thanks to the assist from substitute Darren Pratley. The midfielder hadn’t been on long, but he provided the pass to set up Moore, who took one touch before finding the net with a low strike.
Brendan Rodgers made three changes to the team that enjoyed a superb comeback win at Middlesbrough last Saturday. Darren Pratley was dropped to the bench as Joe Allen returned in midfield. Neil Taylor also recovered from injury to replace Jazz Richards at left back. Stephen Dobbie was also given a rare start as he provided attacking support for Luke Moore in midfield.
Goalkeeper Dorus de Vries was a spectator for the entire match as it was Swansea from the first kick. Doncaster’s long ball up to the bye-line from their kick off said it all really as they struggled with so many injuries to their squad.
The home side took less than 6 minutes to open the scoring as Nathan Dyer and Angel Rangel linked up to provide Scott Sinclair with an easy opportunity to increase his impressive goal tally for the season to 19. Dyer sent Rangel down the right and he picked out Sinclair with a low cross and he found the corner of the net from 4 yards.
Ashley Williams was playing some superb long, diagonal balls over to Nathan Dyer who was creating problems for the visitors throughout. The small winger was given far too much time and space to do what he does best down the right flank.
The Swans then created a good chance to double their lead when Mark Gower lobbed a ball up to Dyer who raced towards goal. He attempted to lob the oncoming goalkeeper Neil Sullivan which he did, but a defender was there to header the ball away to safety.
Luke Moore also had an opportunity to net his first goal since joining the Swans last month but he curled a shot just wide of the target.
The hosts finally got the second goal they were pushing just before the break. Again the goal came from a move down the right and this time it was Dobbie to provide the assist. Gower’s cross from the left was headed away but only to Rangel who had plenty of space to find Dobbie out wide. Moore cleverly dummied his low cross to confuse the Rovers defence. Williams shot came back to him and he headed the ball in with the second attempt. His second goal in as many games and the guns were out! Both of them this time as he showed off his biceps, but he’s still not willing to tell us the reasons behind his celebration!
Brendan Rodgers said prior to the game that it was a “dangerous” one after Rovers’ 6-0 defeat in midweek, but it was everything but, as we eased to victory. Neil Taylor also provided more balance and an extra attacking option down the left flank to help Scott Sinclair, and the young defender was impressive in his first game in about 6 or 7 weeks.
Stephen Dobbie had one final chance on goal before he was substituted for Darren Pratley. The Scot had a shot parried away by the goalkeeper, and despite going off after 76 minutes, he did enough to win the official man of the match award. He linked up well with his team mates and helped to create chances for others as well as having a few himself.
Pratley made an instant impact coming on as he created our third and final goal. He had acres of space to run into, a radius of about 15 yards without anyone closing him down. He found the unmarked Luke Moore to his left, and with a few yards of space he had enough time to take a touch before finding the net to score his first goal in 9 games for the Swans.
An excellent performance from Swansea City against a Doncaster Rovers who were really struggling with so many injuries. On their day, Rovers are a far better footballing side but today they made it easy for us to play. We had far too much time and space on the ball and the defence failed to man mark throughout the entire game.
We didn’t really to get out of ‘second gear’ to win 3-0, and on another day the scoreline could have been higher, but the win sets us up nicely for Tuesday’s trip to Coventry City, before we host Leeds United at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.
Swansea: Dorus de Vries; Angel Rangel, Alan Tate (C),Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor; Joe Allen, Mark Gower (Leon Britton, 41′), Stephen Dobbie (Darren Pratley, 76′); Nathan Dyer, Scott Sinclair, Luke Moore (Craig Beattie, 83′).
Not Used: Yves Ma-Kalambay (GK), Albert Serran, Jazz Richards, Cedric van der Gun.
Doncaster: Neil Sullivan, Joseph Mills, Sam Hird (Byron Webster, 86′), Wayne Thomas (Matt Kilgallon, 73′), George Friend, John Oster (C), Franck Moussa, Mark Wilson, Paul Keegan (Denis Souza, 86′), Dean Shiels, Jason Euell.
Not Used: Gary Woods (GK).
Ashley Williams:
Brendan Rodgers:
“The performance today was excellent,”
“It shows the progress we`ve made. Doncaster have got a few injuries but you`ve still got to do the job. I thought that offensively and defensively we were very good, but there is always room for improvement and that`s what we are always demanding.
“I`ve got to give credit to the players though, they were excellent. Ashley Williams and Alan Tate were outstanding and you can see why Scott Sinclair scores so many goals. When he gets in the box he has the desire of a striker and to have 19 goals as a wide player says a lot.”
Sean O’Driscoll:
‘It was difficult,”
‘We have matched Swansea in the past, but we were no match for them here today.
‘It was a struggle with 13 players out. But the one saving grace was the players kept going.
Ashley Williams:
‘I know Doncaster have their injury problems, but that can’t take anything away from our performance. Doncaster are no mugs and I’ve seen us lose or draw games like this at the Liberty in the past.
‘We had a plan and stuck to it and we are all happy with the outcome. The performance was just as pleasing as the points.
