Swansea City`s excellent home run continued this weekend with another convincing win, this time against struggling Bolton Wanderers.
After a goalless first half, all the action happened early on after the break, as Joe Allen slotted home the opening goal following Gardner`s second bookable offence and sending off.
Scott Sinclair netted from the penalty spot to double our lead, but Coyle`s men were given a fortunate lifeline, when Danny Graham`s attempted clearance from a cross saw the ball fly past Vorm and into the net – the first goal conceded at the Liberty Stadium this season.
The Swans wanted to avoid a repeat of last Saturday`s disappointment when we threw away a 2-goal lead to only draw at Wolves. Luckily, Graham redeemed himself, scoring at the right end to finish the game off with a comfortable 3-1 scoreline.
Today`s game saw the return of midfielder Darren Pratley, who didn`t have the return he wanted to say the least. Not only did he suffer a defeat, which puts them second from bottom, but he also conceded a penalty that helped give us a 2-goal advantage.
The defeat also sees the pressure mount on boss Owen Coyle. After a promising season last year that saw them achieve a top-10 finish, they would have been expecting the same this year but so far they look to be held in a tough relegation battle with the likes of Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers.
Swansea City meanwhile produced another dominating and impressive home display. They owned the ball with almost 70% possession in the game, and they had Leon Britton and Joe Allen in particular to thank for that. Britton literally didn`t misplace a single pass all game, completing all 67, the most in the top flight for 6 years.
Brendan Rodgers named an unchanged side from the one that only drew 2-2 at Wolves last Saturday., as Mark Gower kept his place in midfield ahead of Wayne Routledge.
The hosts looked to get into their passing game quickly as they always liked to do. The swirling wind and rain made the conditions rather difficult but at least the surface enabled the Swans to spray the ball quickly around the park.
Joe Allen and Leon Britton dictated the early play, while Bolton tried to close us down and limit the threats of the wide-men Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer.
Rodgers` side created some half-decent chances early on to get the visitor`s goalkeeper into action. Nathan Dyer was causing problems as he tends to do for the opposition, and he provided a low, curling cross but it had too much pace for Scott Sinclair at the far post.
Michel Vorm was then called into action after around 20 minutes when Ngog fired straight at the Dutch goalkeeper after Eagles` shot was blocked.
Neil Taylor then had a right-foot shot deflected over the bar by Gardner, and in fairness the ball could have gone anywhere but fortunately for the away side it fell over the target.
The scores were unchanged at half time, and although the Swans dominated possession, it was probably quite even in terms of chances on goal, and it was still pretty much anyone`s game at this point.
The Swans needed to continue their dominance in the second half, and limit Bolton`s efforts via the counter attack.
Coyle`s men made it easier for the hosts to do so after Gardner picked up a very silly and needless second yellow card of the game. Nathan Dyer had beaten the Bolton man for pace and he tugged the winger back. The referee had no option but to give him his marching orders.
From the resulting free-kick, taken by Mark Gower just inside Bolton`s half, it was squared across the field and it broke to Joe Allen. The midfielder was given a free channel to run into thanks to a good run from one of his team-mates. With not one defender challenging Allen, he had time and space to fire a shot low at Jussi`s-‘Don`t ask me to spell his surname` front post to give us a lead that our dominance deserved.
Four minutes later and we were 2-goals in front. Former Swan Darren Pratley`s sloppy challenge of Rangel saw the referee point to the spot, and Scott Sinclair of course slotted the ball home coolly.
As the Swans looked to be heading for a comfortable win at home once again, they gave Bolton an unlikely lifeline. Chris Eagles` low cross was blocked by Danny Graham but it beat the helpless Michel Vorm and into the net. Garry Monk was obviously not happy as he was in the perfect position to clear it in the right direction.
The goal for Coyle`s side made it a nervous last 17 minutes, but in injury time Danny Graham scored at the right end to restore the 2-goal lead.
Scott Sinclair also had a great opportunity to increase our lead back to 2 goals when Dyer picked him out inside the box but his shot struck the crossbar.
Bolton pushed men forward and as a result they were left exposed at the back. Rangel picked up a loose pass, fed Graham who was free and onside – like Dyer alongside him, to run forward towards goal. The Scottish striker had the time to ignore the easy option to cut the ball to Dyer on his right, and wait before slotting the ball into the net to make it 3-1.
It was another comfortable and impressive home victory for the Swans against a rather poor Bolton outfit. Brendan Rodgers` side seem to be doing the business at home against the weaker sides in the division, but if we could only show more quality on our travels then there wouldn`t be so much pressure at home to pick up the vital points we need to survive. Things are looking very promising so far though after 10 games. We`re sitting in 10th place, with 12 points, level with Aston Villa, Stoke City and QPR.
Swansea: Michel Vorm, Angel Rangel, Garry Monk (capt),Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor, Mark Gower, Leon Britton,Joe Allen, Nathan Dyer (Luke Moore, 90+3), Scott Sinclair, Danny Graham.
Subs: Gerhard Tremmel, Jazz Richards, Vangelis Moras,Andrea Orlandi, Wayne Routledge, Leroy Lita.
Bolton: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Great Steinsson, Gary Cahill (capt), Chris Eagles, Martin Petrov (Paul Robinson, 52), Ricardo Gardner, Mark Davies, Nigel Reo-Coker, Darren Pratley (Gael Kakuta, 76), David Ngog (Ivan Klasnic, 76), David Wheater.
Subs: Adam Bogdan, Fabrice Muamba, Zat Knight, Kevin Davies.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Attendance: 19,477
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