MX23RW : Saturday, May 11 08:32:23| >> :600:581974:581974:
[monks data]
Swansea logo
Championship | Gameweek 9
Oct 31, 2020 at 3pm UK
Liberty Stadium
Blackburn logo

Swansea
2 - 0
Blackburn

Cabango (25'), Ayew (61')
Ayew (19'), Bidwell (30'), Cabango (55')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Andre Ayew inspires Swansea to victory over Blackburn

The Ghanaian captained the side against Blackburn and also found the target.

Captain Andre Ayew led by example for Swansea, scoring the goal which sealed a 2-0 win over Blackburn which cut Reading's lead at the top of the Sky Bet Championship to four points.

Ayew – made skipper after club captain Matt Grimes was left among the substitutes – scored just past the hour mark after Ben Cabango's header had given the home side a 1-0 interval lead.

The routine victory made it four games unbeaten for Swansea, who climb to second in the table.

It also extended Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray's barren return in league matches against Swansea to seven games as a boss without a win.

Swansea were not at their free-flowing best, but with goalkeeper Freddie Woodman in solid form and Blackburn's threatening moments rarely sustained, it was a comfortable home win.

The visitors' early passing was crisp and incisive and they created an opportunity for Adam Armstrong from which he should have tested Woodman. Instead, the Blackburn marksman could only clip his shot wide.

Swansea's response was a defence-splitting pass from midfielder Yan Dhanda, but striker Jamal Lowe was not sharp enough to benefit.

Regular captain Grimes had surprisingly been left on the bench by Swans head coach Steve Cooper and in the midfielder's absence, the home side lacked their customary fluency.

But it did not stop them from taking the lead from a set-piece in the 25th minute when Cabango outmuscled Darragh Lenihan to power home a header from Connor Roberts' corner.

It was 20-year-old Wales central defender Cabango's second goal of the season, following his breakthrough in the previous campaign.

Ayew almost increased Swansea's lead when his downward header from Roberts' cross was tipped away by Blackburn goalkeeper Aynsley Pears.

But it was Rovers who ended the first half by mounting pressure and the combination of Armstrong and Ben Brereton caused moments of danger.

An awful header by Kyle Naughton left Armstrong in but Woodman was alert enough to smother the effort.

The Blackburn strike pair continued to cause problems after the break and it was a surprise when manager Mowbray chose to replace Brereton as part of a double substitution.

The impact was instant, but not in the way Mowbray had planned as his team fell 2-0 behind seconds later in the 61st minute.

Roberts did well to release Dhanda down the right and the former Liverpool man's perfect cross was met with a firm downward header by Ayew for his sixth goal of the season.

Swansea sent on Viktor Gyokeres late on but the striker, on loan from Brighton, was unable to profit from a couple of openings.

Blackburn faded in the final quarter and rarely looked likely to launch a comeback.

ID:420544: cacheID:420544:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5183:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall pictured on September 24, 2020
Read Next:
Saturday's Championship predictions including Bournemouth vs. Derby County
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLeicester CityLeicester463141189414897
3Leeds UnitedLeeds462791081433890
4Southampton462691187632487
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4621121370472375
6Norwich CityNorwich4621101579641573
7Hull City461913146860870
8Middlesbrough46209177162969
9Coventry CityCoventry4617131670591164
10Preston North EndPreston46189195667-1163
11Bristol City461711185351262
12Cardiff CityCardiff46195225370-1762
13Millwall461611194555-1059
14Swansea CitySwansea461512195965-657
15Watford461317166161056
16Sunderland46168225254-256
17Stoke CityStoke461511204960-1156
18Queens Park RangersQPR461511204758-1156
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn461411216074-1453
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds46158234468-2453
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth461312215970-1151
RBirmingham CityBirmingham461311225065-1550
RHuddersfield TownHuddersfield46918194877-2945
RRotherham UnitedRotherham46512293789-5227


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!