Report | Swansea City 3 Cardiff City 0

17th October
First team
Paterson celebration.

Swansea City claimed the south Wales derby bragging rights with an emphatic victory over Cardiff City at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Jamie Paterson struck the opener and provided two assists for Joel Piroe and Jake Bidwell as the Swans were rampant in SA1.

Russell Martin’s side were in complete control as they made full use of their possession and territorial advantage.

Paterson’s goal opened the scoring, with his 25-yard left-footed shot striking both posts before crossing the line.

Piroe then doubled the lead on the hour mark following a superb pass from Paterson, before the latter crossed for Bidwell to hammer home the final nail.

Jamie Paterson, Ryan Manning and Jake Bidwell.

Martin made two changes to his starting XI as Ryan Bennett returned to the centre of defence as he made his first appearance since the draw at Luton last month, while Ethan Laird started at right wing-back in place of Joel Latibeaudiere.

Martin continued with Ben Hamer in goal, with Ryan Manning and Kyle Naughton alongside Bennett in defence.

Jake Bidwell operated on the opposite flank to Laird, while skipper Matt Grimes and Flynn Downes lined up in midfield alongside Korey Smith.

Jamie Paterson provided support to top scorer Joel Piroe, who led the line for the hosts.

Olivier Ntcham was included on the bench as he makes his return to the match day squad after missing the stalemate at Derby, though Martin is without Michael Obafemi despite the striker returning to full training following an injury that ruled him out of the last three league games.
 

Flynn Downes

The game started with typical fire and passion, and the Swans felt they should have been awarded a penalty after three minutes as Ethan Laird went down under Curtis Nelson’s challenge. Referee James Linington, though, was not convinced and instead awarded a corner.

The visitors shrugged off that early scare and carved open a great opportunity to break the deadlock soon after as Leandro Bacuna and Kieffer Moore linked to send Ryan Giles in on goal, but Ben Hamer made a key save to deny him.

Piroe then saw his shot blocked after Laird’s cross deflected into his path, before a quickly-worked Swans free-kick almost backfired as Moore was sent racing on from the halfway line only to shoot straight at Hamer.

From then on it was the Swans who were in control, dominating possession and dictating play.

And the moment the Jack Army had been waiting for arrived in the 29th minute.

After Paterson’s cross found Piroe, the Dutchman saw his low shot superbly kept out by Alex Smithies, but the Swans recycled possession. Manning found Paterson 25 yards out, and his left footed effort struck the far post before bouncing in off the near post.

His celebration was a mark of a player who has quickly immersed himself into his new surroundings, and his fourth goal of the season was arguably his finest.

Jamie Paterson

The game continued in the same flow for the rest of the half, with the Swans happy to build and wear down their opponents.

After the break, Ryan Manning fired over from a quickly-worked corner, before a Cardiff opportunity from their own corner saw Curtis Nelson nod over from close range.

That proved a crucial miss, with the Swans powering on to double their lead.

After the lively Laird saw his left-footed shot saved by Smithies before the keeper swatted Ryan Bennett’s long-range drive for a corner, the Swansea.com Stadium erupted once again on the hour mark.

Paterson produced unbelievable vision and craft to pluck out Piroe, who chested the ball down into the box and dinked his effort over the onrushing Smithies.

Joel Piroe

One goal, one assist for Paterson, but he wasn’t done there.

After Korey Smith headed wide from Grimes’ cross, Paterson provided another showing of his quality as he cut open the Cardiff defence with a pass that Bidwell ran onto. He cut it back for sub Oliver Ntcham, but his shot was kept out.

Then he went one better, and claimed another assist as the Swans really put Cardiff to the sword.

It started with some excellent work from the impressive Flynn Downes inside his own box, as he held off Moore before cannoning a pass down the line for Laird to chase. He got the better of the deflection with Sean Morrison, and the loanee intelligently slipped in Paterson inside the box. Then, with the stadium expecting him to shoot, Paterson chipped to the back post and Bidwell powered in his header from two yards.

The Swans continued to press on, and while a fourth goal didn’t arrive, the Jack Army erupted once again as the full-time whistle blew.

Swansea City: Ben Hamer, Kyle Naughton, Ryan Bennett (Ben Cabango, 80), Ryan Manning, Ethan Laird, Matt Grimes (capt), Flynn Downes, Korey Smith (Olivier Ntcham, 67), Jamie Paterson, Jake Bidwell, Joel Piroe (Liam Cullen, 85).

Subs not used: Steven Benda, Joel Latibeaudiere, Liam Walsh, Morgan Whittaker.

Cardiff City: Alex Smithies, Mark McGuinness, Sean Morrison (capt), Aden Flint, Leandro Bacuna (James Collins, 68), Joe Ralls (Will Voulkes, 85), Kieffer Moore, Curtis Nelson, Marlon Pack, Ryan Giles, Ciaron Brown (Rubin Colwill, 80).

Subs not used: Dillon Phillips, Joel Bagan, Mark Harris, Perry Ng.