Report | Derby County 2 Swansea City 0
A pair of second-half set-piece goals saw Swansea City suffer defeat against Derby County at Pride Park.
Rhian Brewster and Patrick Agyemang got the goals for the hosts; the first seeing Brewster convert a rebound before Agyemang planted a firm header into the corner of the net.
The Swans controlled possession and territory for much of the contest, ending the game with a near three-quarter share of the ball, but they struggled to turn that dominance into clear chances.
Jisung Eom twice went close after cutting into the area, while Liam Cullen sent a free-kick narrowly wide and substitute Gustavo Nunes was denied by Derby keeper Josh Vickers.
But the visitors were unable to convert as they fell to a frustrating defeat on their travels, while they will have also to do without Marko Stamenic for their home fixtures against Bristol City and
The Swans had made one change from the win over Sheffield Wednesday as Eom came in for Nunes.
Swansea dominated possession early and their pressing work nearly gave Vipotnik an opportunity when the Slovenian read a Matt Clarke backpass and came close to beating keeper Josh Vickers to the ball.
At the other end Lawrence Vigouroux made the first save as he got down quickly to parry away a free-kick from Joe Ward.
The visitors looked a threat in transition and when Josh Tymon drove play upfield and Goncalo Franco chipped a cross to the far post it took a fine block by Ward to keep out Eom’s volley.
Cullen then bent a free-kick agonisingly wide, with the Swans domination of possession and territory frustrating the home crowd.
Eom curled an effort wide from the edge of the box when he might have been better to pick out Vipotnik, who had found space just square of the winger.
The South Korea international then saw a dipping effort fly just over the bar from a sharp counter as the game remained goalless at the end of an opening half the visitors had controlled without creating as many chances as they would have liked.
But they fell behind just a couple of minutes into the second half. Vigouroux did well to save an initial header from a outswinging corner, but he could not prevent Brewster from firing home the rebound.
Swansea nearly responded immediately, Vipotnik flicked on an Eom free-kick and Stamenic saw his effort fly straight into the gloves of the keeper as he arrived to meet the ball.
The Swans had reacted well to falling behind, but Derby were content to soak up the pressure as the visitors tried to lift the tempo.
Matos turned to his bench and sent on Leo Walta and Nunes for Cullen and Eom respectively, but within moments of their arrival the Swans fell further behind.
Another outswinging corner did the damage and Agyemang rose at the far post to send a thumping header into the net.
Nunes nearly reduced the deficit a few minutes later when he skipped away from Ward but sent his shot straight at Vickers, who parried but there was to be no way back for the Swans.
Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux; Ethan Galbraith, Ben Cabango (captain), Cameron Burgess, Josh Tymon; Marko Stamenic (Jay Fulton 84), Goncalo Franco (Malick Yalcouye 77), Liam Cullen (Leo Walta 65); Ronald (Melker Widell 77), Jisung Eom (Gustavo Nunes 65), Zan Vipotnik.
Unused Substitutes: Andy Fisher, Josh Key, Ishe Samuels-Smith, Joel Ward.
Derby County: Josh Vickers, Matt Clarke (captain), Patrick Agyemang (Lars-Jorgen Salvesen 87), Rhian Brewster (Liam Thompson 71), David Ozoh, Sam Szmodics (Jaydon Banel 87), Callum Elder, Joe Ward, Ben Brereton Diaz (Carlton Morris 90), Dion Sanderson, Oscar Fraulo (Bobby Clark 71).
Unused Substitutes: Richard O'Donnell, Derry John Murkin, Craig Forsyth, Danny Batth.
Referee: Andrew Kitchen
Attendance: 27,841