Ten years at the Liberty: A breathtaking performance

To celebrate Swansea City's tenth season at the Liberty Stadium, we are looking back on the stand-out moments over the last decade.
Here, we revisit a performance that ranks among the best from the Swans' time in the Premier League.



Swansea City 3 West Brom 1
Barclays Premier League
November 28, 2012

In time for Swansea City's second season in the Barclays Premier League, the club had a new manager at the helm.
That man was one of football's true greats: Michael Laudrup.
Under the management of the Danish manager, the Swans had enjoyed a tremendous start to the 2012-13 campaign, and had found a goal-scoring star in the making in Spanish acquisition Michu.
Laudrup described Swansea's first-half performance against high-flying West Brom as a joy to watch after they grounded their third-place opponents in exquisite fashion.



In what was perhaps the best 45 minutes of football produced by the Swans since moving to the Liberty Stadium, Laudrup's side's pass-and-move style was, at times, breathtaking.
After just two minutes of the contest, Michu, who was played in by a wonderful pass by compatriot Pablo Hernandez, struck a low drive past Boaz Myhill, only to see his early effort crash against the base of the post before being cleared by the visitors.
If that was a let off for the Albion then they never took heed because after ten minutes the Swans took a much-deserved lead. Angel Rangel and Nathan Dyer, as they had done regularly over the years, worked the ball down the right-hand side of the visitors' defence, before Dyer's cross was met by Hernandez at the far post, whose first-time ball across the six-yard box was met by Michu to fire home.
The Swans were scintillating, and it took just three more minutes for them to double their lead. Once again, Hernandez was the architect. After popping up on the left side of the pitch, the Spaniard played a neat one-two with Ben Davies before squaring a pass for the unmarked Wayne Routledge. Though the English winger's first touch was heavy, Baggies defender Jonas Olsson's attempted clearance was struck against Routledge, sending it flying into the visitors' net.



The only surprise from what was an incredible half of football in SA1 was that it took the home side until six minute before half-time to extend their advantage. After another overlapping run down the left wing, Davies crossed in for Routledge to sweep home his second of the game.
It took until stoppage time of the first half for a shell-shocked West Brom to even earn their first corner. Remarkably, they took advantage to reduce the deficit when the Baggies' set-piece caught the Swans defence napping, and after a goalmouth scramble, Romelu Lukaku blasted home to hand the visitors a lifeline.
Inevitably, the late first-half goal gave Albion impetus, and the during the first 20 minutes of the second half the Swans were forced to soak up pressure from their visitors. Lukaku wasted a chance to double his tally, before Shane Long fired wide of Gerhard Tremmel's goal.
The Swans stood firm and the Baggies were running out of attacking ideas, allowing the hosts to reassume control of the game.
The in-form Michu then glanced a header wide of goal, before Ki Sung-Yueng hit the side netting with an audacious free-kick.
The wasted opportunities didn't matter as the Swans held firm to wrap up the three points, leaving them on 20 points from just 14 Premier League games.




Player profile:
Michu (2012-2015)
Miguel Perez Cuesta was born in 1986 in Oviedo Asturias in Spain.
He began his professional career with his local side Real Oviedo in the Spanish lower leagues in 2003, before moving to Celta Vigo B in 2007.
Such was his progress with Celta's second side that, after just 28 appearances, he won a regular place in the club's first-team.
Having made over a century of appearances for Celta Vigo, Michu departed for Rayo Vallecano in 2011, where he featured in Spain's premier division for the first time.
Michu's debut campaign in La Liga was a huge success as he went on to score 15 times for the top-flight minnows, catching the attention of the Barclays Premier League in the process.
Despite interest from a host of clubs, it was new Swans boss Michael Laudrup that signed the talented Spaniard for £2million during the summer of 2012.
Michu made his debut for the Swans in August 2012 on the opening day of the 2012-13 Premier League campaign, when he scored twice to help the Welsh side to a stunning 5-0 victory at Queens Park Rangers.
Goal after goal after goal followed for the clinical forward and, by the season's end, Michu had 22 strikes to his name, including a goal to help the Swans win the League Cup at Wembley.
Michu began his second season in South Wales as he left off, scoring goals on a regular basis and proving the star of Laudrup's impressive Swansea side.
His club form saw him earn his first senior cap in October 2013 when he started for Spain in their 2-1 World Cup qualifier against Belarus.
But disaster struck for both Michu and the Swans when a series of injuries left the Spaniard struggling for fitness for the remainder of the season.
He moved on loan to Italian side Napoli in 2014 before eventually being released by the Swans in November of the following year.
He has since signed for Spanish fourth tier side UP Langreo, where he hopes he can resurrect his career.

See Michu's best moments with the Swans - clickHERE