Swansea City’s Bafétimbi Gomis inadvertently sinks Manchester United
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Version 0 of 1. Statistics insist that Manchester United are the best team in the Premier League on recent form but the table does not lie and fourth place is about right on this evidence. Swansea beat United by the same score back in August and deservedly completed the double on Saturday with goals from Ki Sung-yueng and a winner credited to Bafétimbi Gomis, although the late headed contact with which he diverted Jonjo Shelvey’s 25-yarder may have been involuntary. United had taken the lead through Ander Herrera, but were left rueing only their second defeat in their past 20 matches in league and cup. Swansea were 3-1 with the bookmakers before the game – unusually generous odds in a two-horse race – and the result was all the more surprising, given that the Welsh team lost 2-0 to West Brom last weekend and were eliminated from the FA Cup by Blackburn before that. Louis van Gaal claimed United were the better side and were “not lucky”, but it was a one-eyed view. They did manage 18 goal attempts, but only three were on target. The Swans had six on target. Related: Chelsea 1-1 Burnley | Premier League match report They made the more assertive start and threatened to take the lead three times in the first 10 minutes, during which time the United defence failed to combat two corners from Gylfi Sigurdsson, resulting in headers from Gomis, who had one cleared off the line by Herrera. They were fortunate, too, when Wayne Routledge, from a good position, fired his shot straight at David de Gea. United, less cohesive, could muster only a weak, mis-hit shot at close range from Wayne Rooney and a Robin van Persie drive which was well wide. Second best, it came as a surprise when they opened the scoring in the 28th minute, when Herrera’s strike was deflected in by Swansea defender Ashley Williams’s reaching left foot. The Swans, with Jack Cork, their recent signing from Southampton, a major influence in midfield, were deservedly level within two minutes, Shelvey’s cross from the left turned in by Ki for the Korean midfielder’s fifth goal of the season. Ki was back again early in the second half, demanding a decent save from De Gea at whites-of-the-eyes range, but it was now that United took control for a spell. The catalyst was Van Gaal’s bold decision to replace both his full-backs with wingers. Antonio Valencia took over from Paddy McNair on the right while on the left Luke Shaw gave way to Ashley Young. It was like-for-like in positional terms, with Valencia and Young stationed either side of the back four, but the substitutes’ attacking contribution on the overlap was much greater and United were on top from half-time until the 72nd minute, when the Swans then took the lead with a goal out of nothing. Shelvey, back to his bristling best, let fly at maximum velocity from the inside right channel and the ball deflected past De Gea via Gomis, who appeared to be intent on getting out of the way. United pressed with ever-increasing urgency but the accuracy of a blunderbuss and Wales’s standard bearers held on to their lead without real difficulty to record the double over their distinguished opponents for the first time. At his press debriefing afterwards Van Gaal looked as if something disgusting was lodged under his nose. It may well have been sour grapes, given his insistence that United were superior and should have won. Related: Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal | Premier League match report “It’s amazing that we have lost today,” he said grumpily. “It is always frustrating to lose when you have been the dominating team and our disappointment is much bigger because of that. We lost through not scoring goals from so many chances. In the first half it was an equal game. In the second half there was a big difference. Swansea had a chance in the first minute and after that we dominated the game. We created a chance every two minutes but we were not effective. Then one counter, a shot deviated and [Gomis] may have been offside and they had a goal. So we are not happy and we are not lucky. “Nevertheless, we dominated the game, even with 10 men when Robin van Persie was injured and could not run any more.” The striker’s fitness will be a concern for Van Gaal, as he left the Liberty Stadium on crutches. Garry Monk’s assessment was much nearer the mark. Told that Van Gaal had claimed United deserved to win, the Swansea manager said: “I wouldn’t say that. Yes, we had to withstand some pressure in the second half, but it amounted to one shot on goal. We got the second goal, which we deserved, and could have had a third with the breakaways we had, so all in all it was a very pleasing performance. “ Monk added that the winning goal would be credited to Gomis. “Jonjo has given it to him and Bafe deserved one today. He had one cleared off the line earlier and his work rate was excellent. I’m very pleased for him. “I thought we deserved the win and to be able to do the double over them for the first time in our history is something everyone connected with the club should be proud of.” |