Return trips to the Liberty Stadium have not been kind to Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers. Two draws in two previous visits left him seeking his first victory with the Reds over his former club.
This time Liverpool left Liberty Stadium with all three points, beating Swansea 0-1. In what may have been their worst half of football all season, the Reds were fortunate not to have conceded. Yet, they regrouped and found their way to a critical win prior to next week’s fixture against Manchester United and a chance to overleap them into fourth place. It was a fortunate result, but not entirely unearned either.
Massive Mignolet – Since returning from his spell out of the side, Simon Mignolet has been justifiably lauded for his performances. Yet, the critical saves quite simply were the difference between conceding in an away loss and snatching a road victory. Swansea could easily have finished the first half ahead by at least two were it not for the Belgian coming up big. His stops of Bafétimbi Gomis’ low drive in the 31st minute and Gylfi Sigurdsson’s far post curler were absolutely match winning saves. He simply kept his team in it when they were struggling all over the pitch.
Back line fit again – While not quite as strong as Mignolet, the first choice defensive trio of Emre Can, Martin Skrtel, and Mamadou Sakho returned to fitness against the Swans. This threesome have been a major factor in Liverpool’s 13 match unbeaten run in the Premier League. Since introducing this defensive line the Reds defence collected their sixth clean sheet away from home this season, the first time since 1972. Sakho and Skrtel, in particular, grew stronger as the game progressed, making timely tackles and taking care of the ball in a game where Liverpool’s passing was much sloppier than normal. In fact, it was not until Liverpool were able to hold the ball and pass it along the defensive line that any rhythm was established.
Layoff lethargy – Ironically, the eight days since the last match looked to have sapped Liverpool more than leave them rested. For a team that arguably looked leggy over the last month, the extra time between fixtures seemed to do more harm than good. Swansea started strong and dominated Liverpool for the first time in recent memory but could not press their advantage. As good as the hosts played, the Merseysiders were sloppy, slow, and lacking sharpness all over the pitch. Errant passes and too many individuals trying to do too much to get something started contributed to an error-riddled first half that saw the Reds chasing from the kick-off.
Better to be lucky – Jordan Henderson’s third goal in three consecutive matches may have been the least impressive of them all, but sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. However, sometimes teams make their own luck. To his credit, Henderson pressed hard up the pitch to make it difficult for the Swansea defence. The vice captain’s pressing action resulted in Jordi Amat’s desparate tackle, which caused the ball to carom and float over a frozen Lukasz Fabianski. It was a fluke goal, but the Reds had more than turned things around in the second half and created more than double the chances than they did in the first.
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