Swansea City suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, with Tyrhys Dolan’s early deflected strike proving decisive.
Swansea made two changes from their previous game against Stoke City, with Bianchini earning his first Championship start in place of the injured Jisung Eom, and Cullen returning to lead the attack.
Dolan’s goal came from a corner, and despite Swansea dominating possession and territory, they struggled to break down the Rovers’ defense. Florian Bianchini had the best chance of the first half but was unable to convert. Liam Cullen headed over the bar, and Gonçalo Franco dragged an effort wide in a frustrating afternoon for the visitors.
Swans boss Williams was disappointed with his side’s lack of ruthlessness in front of goal, once again stressing the importance of developing a killer instinct to capitalize on opportunities and turn possession into goals in his post-match interview.
The Swans are on the road again on Tuesday evening, when they travel to Hillsborough to take on Sheffield Wednesday.
Team Lineups
Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux; Josh Key, Ben Cabango, Harry Darling, Josh Tymon; Matt Grimes (captain), Gonçalo Franco (Joe Allen 72), Ollie Cooper (Žan Vipotnik 65); Ronald, Liam Cullen (Myles Peart-Harris 72), Florian Bianchini (Azeem Abdulai 53).
Unused Substitutes: Jon McLaughlin, Jay Fulton, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Kyle Naughton, Nelson Abbey.
Blackburn Rovers: Aynsley Pears, Dominic Hyam, Sondre Tronstad, Todd Cantwell (Lewis Baker 90), Makhtar Gueye (Yuki Ohashi 59), Tyrhys Dolan (Andreas Weimann 71), Joe Rankin-Costello, Hayden Carter, Ryan Hedges (Callum Brittain 71), Owen Beck, Lewis Travis (captain).
Unused Substitutes: Balazs Toth, Harry Pickering, Arnor Sigurdsson, Danny Batth, John Buckley.
Referee: David Webb
Attendance: 13,550 including 466 Swansea fans.
Match Highlights
Watch extended highlights of the Swans narrow defeat at Ewood Park.
Feature Image Credit: Gary Oakley/PA Wire