Swansea City 0-1 Southampton
- Published
Wilfried Bony sent off on return to side
Wanyama's first Saints goal gives them the win
Southampton up to second in the table
Swansea have not scored in four games against Saints
Victor Wanyama came off the bench to score his first Southampton goal and continue their impressive start to the season with a win over 10-man Swansea.
The midfielder produced the game's one real moment of class with a neat 12-yard finish with 10 minutes remaining.
The Saints had dominated the second half thanks largely to the sending off of Swansea's Wilfried Bony for two clumsy fouls just before the break.
Swansea had started stronger but were unable to hold out with 10 men.
The win moves Southampton up to second in the table and continues what is a remarkable start to the campaign following a summer in which Ronald Koeman's predecessor as manager, Mauricio Pochettino, and five key players left St Mary's.
It represents only the third time that Saints have won three games in a row since returning to the Premier League in August 2012.
However, they were assisted hugely by the decision of Jonathan Moss to send off Bony. The striker made two challenges in his 38 minutes on the pitch - a body check and then late tackle from behind, both on Maya Yoshida - both of which were more clumsy than callous, and was booked for both.
Swansea boss Monk was irate at the decision, even more so when Jose Fonte escaped a second yellow card for a similar offence to Bony's.
Southampton's scoring spree fuels success |
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Southampton have now failed to score in only one of their previous 16 Premier League away matches - in the 0-0 draw against Aston Villa in April. They have now won three on the trot and only lost one of their last nine league matches. |
Last season's top scorer - who was dropped for last weekend's loss at Chelsea after returning late from international duty and is without a goal yet this season - clearly had a point to prove and almost did so in a positive fashion with a glancing header from a corner that would have found the net but for Ryan Bertrand on the goal-line.
Prior to the sending off, Swansea had the better of a closely-contested game.
Wayne Routledge flashed a volley narrowly wide then clipped the corner of the goalframe after he had been put through on goal by Gylfi Sigurdsson, who also had an effort saved by Fraser Forster.
Southampton's only real chance before the break was a tame shot on the turn by Graziano Pelle.
In the second half, though, Southampton, who had only lost one of their previous eight matches, were much more adventurous.
Pelle had two headers saved by Fabianski and fellow summer-signing Dusan Tadic fired a deflected shot on to the roof of the Saints net.
However, it looked as though Swansea were ultimately going to deny Southampton a third successive victory over them until Wanyama's late input.
In the 28th game of his Southampton career, the Kenyan produced his first goal by firing a rising shot into the far corner to give Koeman's side a healthy haul of 10 points from their five Premier League games.
Swansea manager Garry Monk: "I would question the first free-kick against Wilfried Bony. Whether it was a yellow or not I don't know. The second one was a foul but there was no malice in it. It puts us in a difficult position.
"We were by far the better team in the first half. And in the second, the only shot they really had on goal was the one they scored from, which was the one time we switched off and got punished. But we will pick ourselves up and go again."
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman: "It was difficult. We didn't play well in first 20 minutes. Swansea played well and we lost a lot of balls. It was complicated, but finally the result counts and it is a very good win.
"I don't like to talk about yellow and red cards. When it was 10 v 11 it was more easy for us. We didn't create a lot but we scored the goal."
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