Laudrup delighted with "huge win"

4th December

Michael Laudrup expressed his delight at his side's impressive performance after they beat Newcastle United 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium.


The Swans put an end to Newcastle's four-game winning streak in style, courtesy of goals from Nathan Dyer, Jonjo Shelvey and an own goal by Mathieu Debuchy.


Dyer gave Swansea the lead on the brink of half-time, smashing home from eight yards after Alejandro Pozuelo's chipped cross was tipped away by Tim Krul.


Swansea's second was a touch fortunate as Krul's one-on-one save against Shelvey rebounded off of Debuchy into the net.


But there was no luck involved in Laudrup's side's third as Shelvey hit a stunning curling effort from 20-yards, which swerved just past the desperate grasp of Krul - a strike fitting of the young midfielder's excellent performance.


The three points takes the Swans up to 11th position in the Barclays Premier League, and Laudrup believes his side's display was probably their best at home this season.



"It was a very good performance," said Laudrup. "I think we started well from the first moment.


"We had to adapt from the situation when we had to take off our third striker with an injury.


"We needed ten to 15 minutes to adapt to the new system, playing without a striker, but we came back to score a goal just before half time.


"It gave a great boost to everybody. I think we saw that the perfect way to play without a number 'nine' is to move the ball around, with somebody running from deep. In this case, it was Jonjo.


"I think the position suits him very well. He's good in possession and good at making runs from midfield.


"For a lot of reasons, it's a great result. We scored three goals and kept a clean sheet at home.


"Newcastle are a very good side, with a lot of good players and a lot of confidence, coming here on the back of four wins.


"And after losing one more striker in the first half, I think it's a huge win. It gives enormous confidence to the squad, going into a very important week for us.


"If we do well next week, we can go above 20 points in the league and qualify for the knockout phase of the Europa League."


The Swans boss also had good news with regards to Alvaro Vazquez, who was forced to withdraw from the action in the first-half due to injury.


The Great Dane says he doesn't believe the Spanish Under-21 international has sustained an injury that will keep him out for long.


"I don't think it is a bad injury," added Laudrup. "We aren't talking weeks.


"This is his third game in six days, so it can happen, but there really was no alternative but to play him."


Meanwhile, Newcastle boss Alan Pardew felt that big decisions went against his side, preventing the Magpies from continuing their winning run.



"It was disappointing," said Pardew. "I don't think we deserved that, especially in the second-half."


"In the first-half, we weren't as good as we have been, and Swansea played very well without really threatening us.


"In the second-half, we created chances, but two big decisions went against us tonight. I think that was crucial in the result.


"It's disappointing because we've been on a great run."