Angel Rangel: Fernando Llorente goal a big plus for Swansea City

24th September

Angel Rangel reckons Swansea City can take positives from defeat by Manchester City - and says Fernando Llorente will thrive after opening his account for the club.
Knocked out of the EFL Cup by Pep Guardiola's side in midweek, the Swans were beaten again as City returned to SA1 for a Premier League fixture.
Sergio Aguero put the visitors in front early on, but the Swans quickly responded as Llorente crashed home his first goal in English football.
The Swans competed for large swathes of the contest, but Guardiola's men retook the lead through Aguero's 64th-minute penalty after Mike van der Hoorn's challenge on Kevin De Bruyne.
And the hosts' fate was sealed 12 minutes from time when Raheem Sterling scored on the counter attack.
Despite the 3-1 scoreline, Rangel believes the Swans can take encouragement from their efforts this weekend.



"I think that was Fernando's best game. That was a big positive for us - seeing our striker scoring his first goal," the right-back said.
"He has been working hard for it. He has had to wait until his sixth game, but hopefully he can get a few more now.
"There were good signs. We played better football than we have recently. We looked more organised and played more as a unit. 
"That's what we need to do, especially at home. 
"We have some more tough games ahead but we have to regroup and go again next week."



Having failed to win a league game since the opening day, the Swans host Liverpool next weekend knowing they are in need of a result.
But Rangel, who made his first top-flight start of the season against City, is optimistic that there are better times ahead.
"It's been a tough week. We knew approaching the game today that they were going to put all the best players out," he added. 
"We held them well up until the penalty decision, which I think was the turning point.
"At 1-1 Gylfi (Sigurdsson) had a volley and we had a couple of other good balls into the box where we might have scored.
"But at the end of the day it's another defeat which is so disappointing. We have shown a lot of positives, but not enough.
"We showed some character and we played some good football in moments.
"We have to approach the next games with the same spirit and then I think the results will come."