Africa-Press – Ghana. Ollie Cooper celebrates after scoring his third goal in four games Swansea City rewrote the south Wales derby record books once more with a 2-0 win over 10-man Cardiff City.
Russell Martin’s side, who achieved the first league double in the fixture’s history last season, became the first team to win three successive Swansea-Cardiff games in 110 years of meetings.
Goals from Ollie Cooper and Michael Obafemi sealed the win. Cardiff’s hopes of restoring some derby pride were undermined by Callum Robinson’s foolish red card.
The forward’s dismissal, for throwing the ball at Ben Cabango’s face, left Cardiff a man light for 83 minutes – and Swansea pressed home their advantage as they triumphed with something to spare.
It was another painful derby day for Cardiff, whose dreadful recent record in the game that matters most to supporters of both clubs continued. The fact that Cooper was rejected on numerous occasions as a youngster by Cardiff, for whom his father Kevin used to play, only added to the visitors’ misery.
Swansea’s seventh victory in nine Championship games lifted to fourth – the highest position of the Martin era – while Mark Hudson’s Cardiff stay 20th after a third successive defeat.
Martin’s men have the most league wins in this fixture – it is now 26 compared to 20 – yet it is Cardiff who have managed the most successes when cup competitions are taken into account, with 47 compared to 40.
But in recent years, Swansea have had the upper hand, with six victories – and 15 goals compared to one conceded – in the past eight encounters with their biggest rivals. Swansea 2-0 Cardiff: As it happened & reaction
Cardiff looked hungry to change the record as they pressed high and troubled Swansea in the opening exchanges – only for Robinson’s rash moment to change the mood of the game.
Having been penalised for a foul on Matt Grimes, Robinson was nudged by Cabango and responded by hurling the ball at the Swansea defender. The red card which followed prompted Cardiff to sit back, allowing Swansea to take control of the contest.
The hosts ought to have gone ahead when a flowing passing move saw Luke Cundle find Obafemi, who skipped beyond Curtis Nelson only to pull is shot wide.
Cardiff were restricted to the occasional counter-attack, though it was Swansea’s Steven Benda who made the first save of the game as he clawed out Tom Sang’s 20-yard volley.
The Bluebirds then got lucky, as Cedric Kipre escaped sanction for pushing Matty Sorinola’s cross clear with his left fist. Denied what undoubtedly should have been a penalty, Swansea flooded forward once more as Grimes crossed and Niels Nkounkou could only clear as far as Cundle.
Callum Robinson was sent off for throwing the ball at Ben Cabango’s head He failed to get a shot away, but Cooper met the loose ball with the most precise of finishes, a curling effort which went in off the underside of the bar.
This was quite a moment for the Swansea academy product, who was picked up by Swansea after a succession of unsuccessful trials at Cardiff, the club where his dad Kevin used to play in midfield.
There might have been further misery for Cardiff before the break, but Obafemi could not get enough on Jay Fulton’s centre and Cooper did not connect properly with Joel Latibeaudiere’s inviting cross.
Swansea threatened first in the second half, too, as Obafemi turned sharply on the edge of the area and forced a smart diving save from Allsop. Half-time substitute Mark Harris then had a rare sight of the home goal, heading over from Callum O’Dowda’s cross, before Swansea conjured the killer second goal.
There appeared little danger as Fulton fed the excellent Grimes in midfield, but his perfect pass sliced through Cardiff’s defence and Obafemi skated in to steer home his third goal in just two appearances in this fixture.
With that Cardiff looked beaten, and the scoreline might have got ugly as Allsop pushed over Cabango’s drive and Obafemi shot across the face. For Swansea, the misses did not matter.
Once again, it was their party which upset the neighbours. Line-upsMatch StatsLive Text Line-upsSwansea Formation 3-4-2-1 13Benda23Wood6Darling5Cabango22Latibeaudiere4Fulton8Grimes29Sorinola18Cundle31Cooper9Obafemi
13Benda23Wood6DarlingBooked at 50mins5Cabango22Latibeaudiere4Fulton8Grimes29SorinolaSubstituted forOko-Flexat 90+2’minutes18CundleBooked at 60minsSubstituted forNtchamat 70’minutes31CooperSubstituted forCongreveat 90+3’minutes9ObafemiBooked at 58minsSubstituted forCullenat 90+3’minutes
Substitutes 1Fisher10Ntcham20Cullen21Oko-Flex24Stevens26Naughton45Congreve Cardiff Formation 4-3-3 1Allsop12Sang16Nelson23Kipré37Nkounkou35Rinomhota6Wintle8Ralls11O’Dowda47Robinson10Ojo
1Allsop12Sang16Nelson23Kipré37Nkounkou35RinomhotaSubstituted forWhyteat 74’minutes6Wintle8RallsBooked at 61mins11O’DowdaBooked at 50minsSubstituted forEteteat 83’minutes47RobinsonBooked at 7mins10OjoSubstituted forM Harrisat 45’minutesBooked at 90mins
Substitutes 9Etete19Sawyers20Whyte21Alnwick22Daley-Campbell26Simpson29M Harris Referee:Darren BondAttendance:19,814Match StatsHome TeamSwanseaAway TeamCardiffPossessionHome83%Away17%ShotsHome13Away3Shots on TargetHome6Away1CornersHome7Away1FoulsHome5Away10Live Text Post update
Match ends, Swansea City 2, Cardiff City 0. 90’+5’Full Time Second Half ends, Swansea City 2, Cardiff City 0. 90’+4’Post update Harry Darling (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90’+4’Post update Foul by Kion Etete (Cardiff City).
90’+3’Substitution Substitution, Swansea City. Cameron Congreve replaces Oliver Cooper. 90’+3’Substitution
Substitution, Swansea City. Liam Cullen replaces Michael Obafemi. 90’+2’Substitution Substitution, Swansea City. Armstrong Oko-Flex replaces Matthew Sorinola.
90’+1’Booking Mark Harris (Cardiff City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
90’+1’Post update Nathan Wood (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. 90’+1’Post update
Foul by Mark Harris (Cardiff City). 88’Post update Foul by Oliver Cooper (Swansea City). 88’Post update Niels Nkounkou (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
86’Post update
Attempt missed. Michael Obafemi (Swansea City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Oliver Cooper with a through ball.
86’Post update Jay Fulton (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. 86’Post update Foul by Mark Harris (Cardiff City). 83’Substitution
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