Derby County maintained their unbeaten home record after a goalless draw with a Swansea side that dominated possession at Pride Park this afternoon.
It was the fourth draw in the last six games for the Swans, who despite keeping a clean sheet, will be disappointed with not leaving the East Midlands with all 3 points, having had 76% possession and 15 attempts at goal.
In fact it seems to be an all too familiar tale of late, with the Swans dominating games but not finishing off their opponents, due primarily to a killer instinct in front of goal.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise, as after all, in all of Swansea’s 11 League games to date, only 3 players have found the net – Jamie Paterson and Joel Piroe and Olivier Ntcham.
This Swansea team is a work in progress and the signs are there that Russell Martin is making steady progress to the style of play he wants. Therefore fans will need to be patient and give him and his team time to change.
Credit must also go to Derby however, who have the joint best defensive record in the Championship with just eight goals conceded in their opening 11 league matches, for keeping the dominant Swans at bay.
What the Managers Said
Of the two managers, it was clearly Wayne Rooney, who was the happier at the final whistle.
Speaking after the game, former England International Rooney said:
“I thought it was a very difficult game and Swansea moved around well, which we knew they would do, and they caused us problems.
“We knew we would struggle to implement our game on them, so it was about defending well and trying to possibly get a goal on the break.
“We had to dig in and try to keep a clean sheet. Overall, it is a good point. Everyone worked extremely hard and while it was frustrating to not play better than we did, we are happy to take a point and move on.”
“Teams aren’t creating that much against us. For example, Swansea had a lot of the ball but they didn’t break us down.”
Russell Martin, was clearly frustrated by only getting a point from the game and said in his post-match interview:
“I am really frustrated and I am frustrated for the guys.”
“We were so dominant and we deserved to win, we had 10 shots inside their box and that needs to come to more.”
“I am sure we will have it thrown at us that it is all possession and no threat, but we created good chances and someone just has to put the ball in the net.”
“I am happy to see the players be able to put that sort of performance on the pitch after just eight weeks here, just as we did against Hull and Millwall and we now have the best clean sheet record in the league, which is the other side of having that control.”
“Chances fell to a lot of people today and we did not take them. So I am frustrated for the players and I think they see it the same way.”
Vocal Away Following
The Swans were supported by over 800 Jacks at Pride Park, who noisily backed their team throughout the 90 minutes, often being more vocal than the home support in the 21,640 crowd.
With the International break now upon us, it will mean Martin being able to spend more time working with his players, before the much anticipated next League game, the visit of Cardiff City to the Swansea dot com stadium on 17 October.