A mostly one-sided affair unfolded at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, with both teams going into the match on something of a win drought.
Huddersfield’s main man Aaron Mooy began the day on the bench, presumably being given a rest after his participation in Australia’s World Cup qualifying campaign. Steve Mounié remained completely absent from the occasion, not fully fit for a return after a heel injury a few weeks back.
The game began in a cagey fashion, but it wasn’t too long before Swansea began to declare a touch of dominance. Close to the ten-minute mark, a pass by Tom Carroll looped over the Huddersfield’s defence as Tammy Abraham pierced through. The 20-year-old did well to fire a strong shot towards goal, which was matched by Jonas Lössl in goal.
Probably Huddersfield’s best chance of the entire match came within the first half an hour when van La Parra’s low cross fell to the feet of Tom Ince, who blasted over the bar from just outside the 6-yard box.
Soon after, Ince was sprinting onto Lössl’s excellent forward kick when a slight nudge from Martin Olsson sent him to the floor right on the edge of the box. Perhaps this incident is up for debate, but it certainly looked like Ince could have stayed upright and set up a goalscoring opportunity for himself.
Not long before half time, Swansea capitalised on Huddersfield’s defensive frailties when a simply awful pass from Lössl went straight to Carroll, who took the only real option in the situation, squaring the ball to Abraham who coolly slotted home.
Swansea City’s second goal came shortly after the break – albeit a slightly unluckier one for the Terriers. Aaron Mooy (who replaced Jonathan Hogg at half time) tracked back to make a tackle on Narsingh, but his touch sent the ball into Jordan Ayew’s path, who neatly chipped the keeper, and Tammy Abraham made sure the net bulged with a tap in from a metre away.
The Chelsea-loanee had a couple of opportunities to bag himself a hat-trick during the rest of the second half, and was a continuous threat throughout.
A notable substitution occurred in the 76th minute, Nathan Dyer being the man to come on for Swansea, making his first appearance since February after recovering from an Achilles injury.
The Terriers did look to threaten the Swans’ defence in the last twenty minutes or so, but once again could not find the net, meaning they will go over a month without scoring a single goal, and slip down to 11th place.
Swansea on the other hand will be grateful for the three points – their first since August – and move up to 13th in the table.
Swansea and Huddersfield both face tough opposition in the oncoming games, with Leicester City and Manchester United being their next fixtures respectively.
Written by Harry Mahon.
