West Brom 1 - 2 Swansea City - Match Report

Gylfi Sigurdsson was the catalyst for Swansea's two goal comeback to secure their second away win of the season in the expense of West Brom. The Icelandic international near instantly cancelled out Marc Antoine Fortuné's opener for West Brom after finished a sublime Swansea move to score. Sigurdsson then turned architect as Danny Graham latched on the end of his cross to complete the comeback for the Swans. With the Wintry conditions setting in throughout the country, the first half of this game also took a while to thaw through the first half. In the opening half an hour West Brom gave Swansea far too much room for them to stretch the play with their established passing style but never found the openings to really take advantage. West Brom however capitalised on the physical advantage that players such as Marc Antoine Fortune, and more predominantly Jonas Olsson, posed to Swansea. Graham Dorrans consistently created good chances for the Baggies and what a chance that originated from a set piece should've been given as a penalty to the home side. Gareth McAuley's headed chance on goal was cleared by Ashley Williams but replays had shown that the Swansea captain actually deflected the ball away with his arm. Referee Jon Moss, however, was not sufficiently convinced to award the penalty. West Brom continued their aerial assault on goal in the latter stages of the first half, where they had really started to grow into the game. In a move straight off the training ground Graham Dorrans met Jonas Olsson at the near post to flick the ball on to the approaching West Brom offence but Neil Taylor intercepted the play. The following corner also kept the visitors on their toes. A headed chance on goal was cleared off the line from Gylfi Sigurdsson whilst the follow up, drilled in by Peter Odemwingie, was yet again intercepted by Neil Taylor to thwart the chance. Whilst the first half offered little to the imagination, the second half offered plenty more. West Brom carried their momentum from the latter stages of the previous half and were rewarded with the opener. The goal came, almost predictably, from a corner. In what was starting to become a staple in their set piece play, Dorrans once again found the head of Jonas Olsson who flicked the ball on to an unmarked Fortuné to put away. It was Fortuné's first Premier League goal for just over a year but the lead he gave his team was short lived. From the kick off Swansea were instantly on the offensive, with Neil Taylor and Scott Sinclair stringing together passes to put the Welsh full back in space on the left wing. Taylor worked the move admirably and gained enough space to square the ball to Gylfi Sigurdsson to slot home, a mere sixty seconds after going behind. The visitors weren't done there though. After regaining possession from the kick off the Swans coolly and positively played out from the back, looking for the right ball, which they found to the path of the goalscorer Sigurdsson. The Icelandic international was left in plenty of room to deliver a well aimed cross for Danny Graham to convert at the near post. It was a quickfire double for the Swans, who despite posing the worst away form in the league, were flying at the Hawthorns. Ten minutes after their second goal Nathan Dyer almost sealed the win. Danny Graham jinked past a host of West Brom defenders to pull the ball back to Dyer but his effort just squirmed past the post. As the half continued West Brom started to get their feet back in the match but Peter Odemwingie, who is facing a barren spell in front of goal currently, spurned what was their best chance to get back into the game. An open shot on goal opened up to the Nigerian after Graham Dorrans' shot deflected off Steven Caulker. Michel Vorm was in no man's land to rescue the shot but Odemwingie blazed his effort over the bar. West Brom continued their offence with further efforts from Odemwingie, James Morrison and Paul Scharner all testing Vorm but not rattling the back of the net. The final five minutes of the game saw another opportunity for Swansea to put the game to bed but the towering figure of Jonas Olsson helped thwart the danger. A through ball from Angel Rangel almost found Nathan Dyer however the approaching Ben Foster knocked the ball away. Gylfi Sigurdsson capitalized on the loose ball but his strike was blocked by Olsson and the big Swede cleared away. In what was starting to seem like de ja vu for Swansea fans, after they suffered to the hands of a late Chelsea equaliser earlier in the week, West Brom were literally centimetres from claiming a similar fate. Goalscorer Marc Antoine Fortuné had an excellent shot at goal which Michel Vorm could only let slip under him after taking the sting out of the shot, fortunately for Swansea the ball rolled only just wide of the post for a corner. The resultant corner continued the drama at the Hawthorns. Ben Foster joined the attack which saw both Olsson and Fortune once again attempt on goal but the Swansea back line stayed resilient to secure only their second away league win of the season. The win puts Swansea back in the top half of the table for the second time this season, whereas West Brom may now start looking over their shoulder as they find themselves only six points away from the relegation zone.