Advertisement
Ashey Williams celebrates his goal for Swansea.

Swansea skipper Williams seals rare win in front of new boss

Francesco Guidolin was treated to a win at the Liberty Stadium as Ashley Williams’ header saw off Watford.

CAPTAIN ASHLEY WILLIAMS gave struggling Swansea City an important 1-0 victory over Watford in the Premier League on Monday as new head coach Francesco Guidolin watched on at the Liberty Stadium.

Former Udinese boss Guidolin was appointed as the man to turn Swansea around, alongside interim manager Alan Curtis, earlier in the day and he had a watching brief as Williams proved the unlikely match-winner with a header inside the opening half an hour.

Swansea had won just once from seven games in all competitions under Curtis following Garry Monk’s departure in December but the hosts did not appear low on confidence as their adventurous start was rewarded by Williams’ first Premier League goal in his last 66 outings.

In contrast, Watford – who signed Malaga forward Nordin Amrabat on Monday – lacked ideas as their losing run in the league was extended to four matches.

But Guidolin will begin work with a Swansea side back outside the bottom three ahead of his first game at Everton on Sunday.

Off the back of a 4-2 defeat at home to struggling Sunderland last time out, Swansea brought in Jack Cork for Modou Barrow and, keen to impress their new coach, the hosts began brightly, albeit while struggling to create chances.

Watford named Craig Cathcart, Nathan Ake and Valon Behrami in their XI following a 2-0 defeat at Southampton, with Quique Sanchez Flores’ men taking time to grow into the game.

Swansea City v Watford - Barclays Premier League - Liberty Stadium New Swansea head coach Francesco Guidolin. Nick Potts Nick Potts

Odion Ighalo glanced Troy Deeney’s cross wide 21 minutes in before Swansea responded with an Andre Ayew effort comfortably saved by Heurelho Gomes.

And the hosts deservedly went ahead in the 27th minute when skipper Williams made the most of slack Watford defending to power home Ki Sung-yueng’s cross from the right wing.

Williams’ first goal for club or country since March 2014 gave Swansea further impetus as Ki fired over, while Jose Manuel Jurado had Watford’s first effort on target on the stroke of half-time.

Watford were on the front foot following the restart after a lethargic first-half display as Miguel Britos headed Ben Watson’s free-kick onto the roof of Lukasz Fabianski’s net.

But the visitors struggled to fashion further clear-cut opportunities, while Cork sent an effort high and wide for Swansea as they sought to extend their lead.

Jurado continued to disappoint – linking neatly with Ighalo only to send a shot off target shortly after the hour as the pair, along with captain Deeney, were kept relatively quiet by Swansea’s back line.

Ighalo saw penalty appeals waved away when he appeared to be held by Williams while Jurado sent another shot narrowly wide in the final stages before substitute Bafetimbi Gomis rattled Watford’s right-hand post with a fierce drive.

But Williams’ goal was enough to move Guidolin’s men above Newcastle United and into 17th with a first win since beating West Brom on Boxing Day.

Ireland tickets among the most in-demand as 3.5 million requests made for Euro 2016

Ex-Ireland and Sunderland striker training with Shamrock Rovers

Close
Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ron Koeman
    Favourite Ron Koeman
    Report
    Oct 7th 2015, 10:27 PM

    We actually have a better record against them than most small countries (and a lot of big ones)

    42
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joe O'Brien
    Favourite Joe O'Brien
    Report
    Oct 7th 2015, 10:22 PM

    I always thought we made a mistake playing Holland & Germany in the build-up to USA94. If we were to play them in the tournament it would come back to bite us… Hindsight & all that!!

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Old Gabby Johnson
    Favourite Old Gabby Johnson
    Report
    Oct 7th 2015, 10:34 PM

    Ah joe those halcyon days.

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute PJ1
    Favourite PJ1
    Report
    Oct 7th 2015, 11:31 PM

    Loved that jersey

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Hypernova
    Favourite Hypernova
    Report
    Oct 8th 2015, 12:18 AM

    We were ranked at our highest ever,that year.Some team.
    http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/associations/association=irl/men/index.html

    6
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.