Report: Swansea City 1-2 Fulham

the championships' top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic proved the difference at the Liberty Stadium

Surridge free six yards out, but the striker’s effort was saved from point-blank range by Marek Rodak,
Surridge’s effort was saved from point-blank range by Marek Rodak. Image courtesy of Swansea City.

by Dylan James

FULHAM took all three points as Swansea failed to take their chances and Aleksandar Mitrovic proved the difference at the Liberty Stadium.

Welsh international Connor Roberts returned to the Swansea starting line-up as Steve Cooper made three changes to the side which drew at Huddersfield on Tuesday night.

The Swans started brightly and found themselves enjoying the majority of possession in the opening 20 minutes. The south Wales side almost found the net in the sixth minute, but Marek Rodak was there to prevent Sam Surridge from grabbing the opening goal.

Despite some speculative efforts from George Byers and Kristoffer Petersen, the Swans were unable to break the deadlock. However, Fulham were readying themselves to do just that.

Skipper Tom Cairney found an on-rushing Joe Bryan, whose pitch perfect cross was met by Aboubakar Kamara, whose effort crashed against the woodwork, only for Serbian talisman Mitrovic to head the rebound into a gaping net.

The hosts were desperately looking for an equaliser to neutralise the Fulham pressure. Byers delivered a sumptuous floating cross into Andre Ayew, but his acrobatic attempt found the gloves of Rodak.

The south London outfit doubled their lead in the 43rd minute as former Spurs forward Josh Onomah miss-kicked his cross into the area. The ball fell kindly to the ever clinical Mitrovic, who controlled the loose ball well and blasted into the roof of the net to make it 2-0.

Andre Ayew led a dangerous Swansea counter-attack in the 57th minute, as the Ghanaian squared neatly to Byers, who drove his effort towards the top right corner of the net, but Rodak was there again to palm the strike away.

It wasn’t long before Byers had another chance, and this time, opening the scoring for the home side. In the 65th minute, substitute Barrie McKay’s free-kick rebounded off the wall, only for the Scotsman to loop the ball into the area, and Byers headed confidently into the bottom right.

Possession was evenly shared in the closing quarter of the game as Swansea struggled to make any headway after the goal. Substitute Tom Carroll found some space on the edge of the area, but his strike only met the crowd behind the sticks.

The tight game finished 2-1 to the Londoners and pushed Fulham up to third, while the Swansea remain sixth in the table.