Swansea survive 80 minutes with 10 men to earn draw at Huddersfield
Huddersfield Town 0 Swansea City 0: Jordan Ayew saw red after only 10 minutes for a high tackle
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This was the ultimate exercise in fire-fighting for Carlos Carvalhal. His Swansea side were a man short for 80 minutes against relegation rivals Huddersfield, yet managed to battle their way to a point.
Carvalhal’s side had around 20 per cent of the possession and managed no shots on target. A point was their prize, and it was accepted gratefully. Since their Portuguese coach arrived in December, Swansea have lost just two of 16 games in all competitions. Survival, which looked highly unlikely at Christmas, is getting closer by the week.
They would not have got their draw, though, but for a brilliant save by Lukasz Fabianski with just under half-an-hour to go. The Polish goalkeeper thrust up an arm to get a faint touch after Steve Mounie had hit a thunderous dipping volley. Fabianski’s intervention was enough to turn the ball on to the bar.
There was an even later escape for the visitors, as Tom Ince headed the excellent Florent Hadergjonaj’s cross against the post. Huddersfield were left to rue a failure to score from any of their 28 efforts on goal.
Swansea showed no ambition after the early sending off of Jordan Ayew; as far as they were concerned, it was all about putting out “the fire in the forest”, as Carvalhal described their fight for survival on Thursday. It was not attractive to watch, but his players got the job done.
For Swansea’s head coach, there must have been a degree of satisfaction in thwarting Huddersfield, even if he would not admit to it publicly; it was David Wagner’s side who beat his Sheffield Wednesday team on penalties in last season’s Championship play-off semi-finals.
The game’s key moment came in the 10th minute when Ayew, Swansea’s 10-goal leading scorer, was sent off for a reckless challenge on Huddersfield captain Jonathan Hogg.
Ayew could have little complaint about the decision; he may have gone into the challenge without any malice, but he went studs first into the midfielder’s leg.
If Carvalhal had gone into the game with any attacking ambition, it disappeared at that moment. The 5-3-2 formation with which he started the afternoon became, at times, a 5-4-0, with Andre Ayew, the sole remaining striker, frequently dropping back to help a deep-lying midfield whenever Huddersfield had the ball.
The visitors had to defend, and did so doggedly; no one more than Alfie Mawson, who was regularly in the right place to make the vital challenge.
Huddersfield, faced with a blanket defence, tried to play through it, but lacked enough pace in their passing to do so. Ince, more than once, needed a second too long amid the crowds, and frustration began to set in.
The former Derby midfielder was keen to add to the sole Premier League goal he has scored since his £8m move last summer, but success eluded him. He glanced a fine Florent Hadergjonaj cross well wide as the better-placed Mounie waited behind him, and lifted a free-kick into the arms of Fabianski after being fouled by Andre Ayew.
In between those two chances, Mounie climbed above Federico Fernandez to loop a back header on to the roof of the net, but Swansea got to half-time without conceding.
Their hopes of a clean sheet should have disappeared six minutes after half-time as Ince delivered an excellent ball from the right towards Scott Malone, only for the left-back, still seeking his first goal for Huddersfield, to miss his kick while attempting the volleyed finish.
When Swansea had a rare chance on the hour mark, it appeared to take even their own players by surprise; Ki Sung-yueng’s low outswinging free-kick found Mike van der Hoorn getting himself in front of Huddersfield’s sleeping defenders, and then dawdling himself, allowing the home side to clear.
That left-off jolted Huddersfield back into action; the lively Mounie swept Hadergjonaj’s cross on the run into the side-netting, and then was denied by Fabianski’s astonishing acrobatics. Moments after that, Hadergjonaj steered a first-time shot just wide from Mooy’s short corner.
But it would not happen for Huddersfield; Swansea maintained their focus, and kept the fire under control for a little longer.
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