Aston Villa 0 : Swansea 2
01/02/2012 07:22:45 PM
Swansea City broke through for their first away victory of the English Premier League season, beating Aston Villa 2-0 on Monday.
Strikes at the beginning of each half, via excellent play from Swans' wingers Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge, shut out Villa and cast misery on manager Alex McLeish.
It took just five minutes for the visitors to go ahead, with an errant backpass from Villa defender Stephen Warnock enabling Swans winger Dyer to attack centre-back Richard Dunne one-on-one.
The 24-year-old's shot from just inside the penalty box deflected off the Irish defender and past goalkeeper Brad Guzan to hand the Swans a surprise lead.
Villa responded through a series of half-chances and dominated possession until half-time, but were unable to find an equaliser.
Brendan Rodgers' Swansea were again the fresher team coming out of the tunnel, however, and took just two minutes to double their advantage.
Villa goalkeeper Guzan mis-hit his clearance from James Collins' pass back, allowing Swansea to attack again with numbers.
Routledge sped down the left and crossed for forward Danny Graham, who struck the post from inside the area.
But Routledge was on hand to profit from the rebound, lashing home to give Swansea a 2-0 lead.
McLeish's outfit lacked the creativity required to break down Swansea's defence, and the visitors calmly saw out their first away victory of the season.
A last-minute strike from Villa winger Charles N'Zogbia hit the post, handing McLeish's side their fourth-succession loss at home.