The Swans started exactly where they left off in that FA Cup tie with the speedy Welsh wunderkind Daniel James again bearing down on Luke Daniels at great speed. This time the game was only thirty seconds old and Mads Bech Sorensen, in for the injured Yoann Barbet, had made a clumsy back pass. James nipped in and set off for goal. This time Daniels clattered him on the edge of the box and the ball fell into the path of Swansea’s Nathan Dyer who slotted it home. Daniels would probably have been sent off for unlawfully preventing a goal scoring opportunity but as it turned out a goal had resulted so he only got a yellow.
Nine minutes later James hit the crossbar with Daniels beaten again. Brentford must have been wishing his transfer deal to Leeds had not stalled at the last minute. There was no chance of Swansea stalling in this game as 21 year old James on the left and 31 year old Dyer on the right tested Brentford’s three at the back system to near destruction.
It was nearly half an hour before Brentford made a trip to the edge of Swansea’s goalmouth which ended with a shot from Canos being blocked. A few minutes later he lost possession in midfield and began beating the ground in frustration. Worse was to come. Any chance that Brentford could repeat Swansea’s FA Cup trick of losing the first half one nil but dominating the second half ended soon after.
Swansea keeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt kicked long into the Brentford half and when the ball landed there was Dyer yards ahead of the Brentford defence, again with only Daniels to beat. Dyer nutmegged him to get his second.‘Surely offside’ cried the Brentford supporters and when no call came ‘Where was the Defence?’.
James was doing so well he really didn’t need to dive just before the break. But Maupay and then Jeanvier earned yellows for hacking him down. Half time couldn’t come soon enough.
Brentford started the second half with much more bite and determination, pushing down the left with Moses Odubajo. However it was almost 56 minutes before Benrahma got a first clear shot at but over the goal followed a minute later by a tame effort by Odubajo straight at the keeper.
Three substitutions for the Bees didn’t make a lot of difference. This wasn’t one of those away games where Brentford play the better football, have much of the possession but never do quite enough to win. It was a game where they faced a team that had more skill, more energy and more commitment and it was no surprise when James, who else, scored after a shot by Connor Roberts hit the post. The standing ovation as he was subbed off on 78 minutes was well deserved.
At the end Thomas Frank walked to the away end and made a gesture of apology to the fans who’d travelled to South Wales and wouldn’t have got back to West London until nearly 2 am. In his post-match interview Frank called it an unacceptable performance by his players. They have run out of steam with seven games still to go until the end of the season. They look tired and uninspired. They have four days to put it right before facing Derby.
Swansea City: Nordfeldt; Roberts, van der Hoorn, Grimes, Naughton; Fulton, Byers; Dyer (sub Baker-Richardson), Celina (McBurnie), James (Carter-Vickers); Routledge
Brentford: Daniels; Konsa, Jeanvier, Sørensen; Dalsgaard, Mokotjo (Dasilva), Sawyers, Odubajo; Canós (Marcondes), Maupay, Benrahma (Watkins)