Baggies Take Down Swansea, 2-1 - gbasalmon's Blog

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Baggies Take Down Swansea, 2-1

Posted on January 2, 2015 at 07:45 PM.

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West Bromwich Albion came into Swansea's Liberty Stadium flying high and Saturday's action did nothing to stop that feeling, as they clipped the Swans' wings and sent them away in defeat, 2-1.

Even though the day ended well for the Baggies, the first half did not start out well at all. The Swans cut off all of the probing from Chris Brunt, who started the match at the center attacking midfield slot. The few questions he asked, they answered superbly. The scoring opened at the 15 minute mark as center back Craig Dawson was called for a very curious foul near the goal line, earning Wilfried Bony a penalty kick. Bony powered a kick into the right side of the goal, barely above the outstretched glove of keeper Ben Foster.

Bony releases his penalty kick

The rest of the first half went relatively quietly and the score at the half was 1-0 Swansea. As the second half started, West Brom started to show more flair offensively and started finally to test Swansea keeper Lukasz Fabianski. The Baggies finally erased the deficit at the 53 minute mark after a beautiful effort from Saido Berahino. He brought the ball up the right flank, deked to the right, then jetted to the front of the net and curved the ball into the far corner of the net past Fabianski.

Berahino also technically has credit for the winner, although it was pretty much put in by Swansea center back Federico Fernandez. At the 63 minute mark, he unleashed a wicked shot that Lukasz Fabianski was able to barely get his left foot on. The ball caromed high over the crossbar and came down just in front of the goal line. Fernandez was hurrying back to cover the goal and ended up inadvertently knocking the ball into his own net. It probably could have been tallied as an own goal, but perhaps the hometown crew didn't want to penalize Fernandez for his effort.

Man of the Match: Craig Gardner

Even though Gardner didn't notch a goal, he was simply all over the field making tackles and cutting off Swansea attempts at goal through the middle, especially in the second half.

West Brom returns home to the Hawthorns for their next match against Everton.