by Adam Evans
Date: 2ndApril 2019
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Attendance: 17,197
SWANSEA City returned to winning ways by putting three past Brentford, after being without a victory in the last five matches in all competitions.
The Swans opened the scoring early on through veteran Nathan Dyer, who then grabbed a second later in the first half.
Daniel James remained in great form as he finished off the job late on in the second period for Graham Potter’s side.
Tonight’s result means that the Swans have won all three meetings between the two sides this season in the FA Cup and league.
Brentford struggled to create any clear cut chances as Swansea’s defence remained strong for the entire game.
Swansea made an emphatic start to the match by scoring within a minute. Daniel James was one-on-one with the Brentford goalkeeper, Luke Daniels and was wiped out. However, referee Peter Bankes played an advantage which allowed Dyer to tap it home into an empty net.
Soon after, James looked to have grabbed one himself, but he saw his bending effort clatter off the crossbar.
Graham Potter’s men doubled their lead 10 minutes from the break. ‘Keeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt drilled a sidewinder which found Nathan Dyer and put him clean through on goal; the 31 year old remained composed and passed it underneath Daniels to bag his brace.
The Swans could have had the three points wrapped up in stoppage time of the first half. Bersant Celina’s set piece from just outside the area denied them by hitting the woodwork.
Just ten minutes after the restart, Nathan Dyer found himself with marginal space in the box and somehow managed to get a scruffy shot but it went narrowly wide.
James grabbed the home side’s third goal of the night by tucking Connor Roberts’ rebounded effort that cannoned back off the post into the bottom left corner.
Potter had praise for the whole squad after a comfortable performance, but he had particular praise for Dyer, after he scored his first league goals since 2014 for the Swans.
“I was hoping he would get a hat trick, but it wasn’t to be. But I am really pleased for him, it’s just nice for him to get the reward for influencing the game.
“He got into good spaces, helped with our build-up and helped us with how we attacked.”
Tonight’s victory for Swansea means that they move level on points with Brentford on 50 and revive their slim play-off chances.
Swansea City: Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Mike Van Der Hoorn (C), Bersant Celina (Oli McBurnie, 70’), Nathan Dyer (Courtney Baker-Richardson, 70’), Wayne Routledge, Daniel James (Cameron Carter-Vickers, 81’), Matt Grimes, Connor Roberts, Kyle Naughton, Jay Fulton, George Byers
Brentford: Luke Daniels, Moses Odubajo, Sergi Canos (Emiliano Mercandes, 60’), Neal Maupay, Kamohelo Mokotjo (Josh Dasilva 71’), Romaine Sawyers (C), Said Benrahama (Ollie Watkins 60’), Henrik Dalsgaard, Julian Jeanvier, Ezri Konsa, Mads Bech Sorenson
