Newcastle United 0 - 0 Swansea City - Match Report

By Kyle Gammon / August 12, 2013

Newcastle will feel extremely hard done by with the result at St James Park yesterday with three golden chances not going their way but Swansea will feel relieved to gain a point from the match. It was a very uncharacteristic performance from Swansea in the first half as they repeatedly gave the ball away and allowed Newcastle to control the match in possession and it was in the first half where Newcastle's best chances came. Demba Ba was the star individual in this sense, being denied by the post and firing an incredible acrobat effort which was intercepted by the ever impressive Michel Vorm. However it wasn't just the Senegalese goal machine that threatened Swansea's eighth clean sheet of the season. Returning Fabricio Coliccini managed a header on Vorm's far post, from a perfectly dispatched free kick by Yohan Cabaye, but the ball struck the outside of the post. Cabaye acted as the creator for many of Newcastle's chances throughout the game. The Frenchman was given several opportunities from dangerous positions just outside the Swansea 18 yard box from dead ball situations but each chances was squandered. Fellow Frenchman Gabriel Obertan also proved to be a challenge for Swansea to deal with. The ex-Manchester United winger frequently got the best of his opponent on the wing, Neil Taylor, but similarly to Cabaye he failed to find any true goalscoring opportunities with his crosses. Just before the end of the first 45 minutes, Jonas Gutierrez's long range effort almost fired the Toon Army into the lead in spectacular fashion. After gaining the ball on the wing, the Argentinian cut in, dropped the shoulder and struck a beautiful shot that only just swerved past the top corner. It was a first half of absolute domination for Alan Pardew's team who beat Swansea in every possible positive statistic, something that the Swans often boast about themselves. More shots were attempted, better possession rates, more passes of the ball but the most important statistic remained equal, the score. The second half proved a little more fruitful for the Swans, with Rodgers deciding to switch tactics by replacing Mark Gower with Kemy Agustien who certainly injected more control in to the centre of midfield. However whilst Swansea were just about finding their feet in the match, Demba Ba almost swept their regained confidence straight from underneath them. Ba received a ball in to the far post where Vorm was all at sea but the angle of the shot and pace of the delivery could only force the striker into blazing his volley high over the bar. With the addition of Agustien, and no doubt a half time grilling by Brendan Rodgers, Swansea finally started to look more like themselves. A rare offensive move was created by ex-Newcastle player Wayne Routledge, who managed to keep Nathan Dyer out of the starting eleven for the second successive week. Routledge's pace and trickery got him into a good position to dispatch a low cross into the box, however the effort eluded the feet of both Joe Allen and Danny Graham but a connection could've easily led to a goal against the run of play. Newcastle clearly started to show their frustration as time continued in the second half with the majority of their efforts on goal failing to find the target. Substitute Shola Ameobi almost broke the trend with an effort minutes after being introduced into the game but Vorm denied his opportunity. Whilst Newcastle struggled to steer their attempts on target in the second half, they still maintained a solid defensive performance to nullify Swansea's attacking options. Throughout the whole fixture the Swans only managed 3 attempts on goal, all of which were off target but Scott Sinclair had the pick of the bunch. A good run of play was spearheaded by Joe Allen finding Sinclair in space within the Newcastle 18 yard box. One on one against Tim Krul, Sinclair managed to wrong foot Krul and send him the wrong way but he could only fire his shot wide of goal. All in all both teams gave an excellent defensive display, Newcastle nullified Swansea's attacks whereas the Swans defended to the last to ensure Newcastle's efforts troubled Michel Vorm as little as possible. However Newcastle will surely feel disappointed not to have taken advantage of their dominant first half and continue their slump of form taking only 2 points from their past 5 games. Equally, Swansea also continue their dismal away form, only achieving 3 points from their 8 games on the road. A trip to Goodison Park on Wednesday will be Rodgers final hope of securing his first win away from home in the Premier League before the new year.