15/09/2012 14:00 v Aston Villa

Michael Laudrup suffered his first defeat as Swansea City manager as his team went down 2-0 at Aston Villa.

Matthew Lowton volleyed home after 16 minutes while sub Christan Benteke came off the bench to settle the contest with two minutes left to cap off a perfect debut for the striker.

After a fairly even first half the Swans looked to push on for an equaliser with Pablo Hernandez and Itay Shechter coming off the bench to make their first appearances.

But it wasn't enough as the Swans went down to a disappointing defeat to Villa, who won their first game under Paul Lambert.

The Swans started brightly as the sun shone down on Villa Park. Michu sliced open the Villa defence with a neat to Danny Graham, but the striker's efforts were thwarted for a corner.

Then, with 10 minutes on the clock, keeper Brad Guzan made two fantastic saves to keep the Swans at bay. First, he tipped over Ashley Williams's powerful header from a Jonathan de Guzman corner, before he reacted well to dive to his left and tip Nathan Dyer's goalbound effort over for another corner.

Villa's reaction was just what Paul Lambert had ordered. A Barry Bannan corner was headed out by Williams to Lowton, who controlled before volleying a 20-yard effort past Michel Vorm.

Michu volleyed over from a half-cleared corner before Villa's Brett Holman scooped his effort over the crossbar in reply.

Vorm then had to be at his best to swat away Andrea Weimann's curling effort that looked destined to sneak inside the near post, before the Swans carved out a great chance before the break.

Angel Rangel's beautifully threaded pass sent Dyer racing down the right flank, but his cross flew right across goal as Ron Vlaar's attempt to clear did enough to put Graham off.

Villa were the first to threaten after the break, Ciaran Clark seeing his half-volley cannon off the knee of Vorm for a corner.

The home side went even closer as another Bannan corner fell to Weimann, but his shot on the turn from six yards out was kept off the line by Leon Britton.

Laudrup then made his first change as Hernandez came on for his debut in place of Routledge after 57 minutes.

The Swans then thought they had a good appeal for a penalty after Dyer went down under Lowton's challenge, but referee Lee Mason played down the appeal.

Laudrup made another change with 20 minutes left as former Villa striker Luke Moore replaced Graham, while Villa made a double change with Ashley Westwood and Benteke coming in place of Stephen Ireland and Weimann.

Lambert made another change with 11 minutes to go as Charles N'Zogbia replaced Holman, while Itay Shechter came on for his debut in place of Britton.

The Swans were pushing for the equaliser, but it was Villa who almost got the second goal of the game. Darren Bent teed up Karim El Ahmedi, but his curling effort was palmed away by Vorm.

Moore then drilled wide from 20 yards before he headed straight at Guzan from Rangel's cross as the game ticked towards the final few minutes.

But the game was over with two minutes left, Williams' attempted header back to Vorm was short and Benteke pounced to slot home a debut goal and settle the contest.

ASTON VILLA: Brad Guzan, Ron Vlaar (capt), Ciaran Clark, Stephen Ireland (Ashley Westwood, 71), Karim El Ahmadi, Darren Bent, Brett Holman (Charles N'Zogbia, 79), Barry Bannan, Andreas Weimann (Christian Benteke, 71), Eric Lichaj, Matthew Lowton.
SUBS: Shay Given, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Jordan Bowery, Joe Bennett.

SWANS: Michel Vorm, Angel Rangel, Alan Tate, Ashley Williams (capt), Ben Davies, Leon Britton (Itay Shechter, 79), Jonathan de Guzman, Michu, Nathan Dyer, Wayne Routledge (Pablo Hernandez, 58), Danny Graham (Luke Moore, 71).
SUBS: Gerhard Tremmel, Jazz Richards, Kemy Agustien, Ki Sung-Yueng.