Guidolin got his tactics all wrong in that first half – the manager felt compelled to apologise to Neil Taylor after substituting him before the interval – and it was a odd, head-scratching turn of events that led to Swansea getting back into the match after the restart, with Chelsea guilty of pressing the self-destruct button for the equaliser and perhaps unfortunate that Gary Cahill was not awarded a free-kick when Leroy Fer dispossessed him for the second goal.
Advertisement
The same player then headed wastefully over from a Cesc Fabregas cross, but in the 81st minute, Chelsea struck when Ivanovic’s close range shot cannoned into the air via a deflection – and Costa acrobatically finished via the head of Fernandez.
“It’s very hard to talk about the game because we lost two points”.
The 2016-17 Premier League season lived up to its reputation as one of the most unpredictable in the world as we saw Swansea and Chelsea and Swansea share the spoils at the Liberty Stadium in a roller coaster of a match.
Replays late showed that Fer may have been forntunate not to be penalised as he challenged the defender.
The Belgian goalkeeper scrambled back, but could not prevent the ball crossing the line.
Swansea turned things around after the break, with two goals in two minutes thanks to Gylfi Sigurdsson’s (59) penalty and Leroy Fer’s (62) opportunistic finish.
Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski elected not to collect a cross and Federico Fernandez’s two poor headers failed to clear the danger.
Oscar (7): Another good shift from the midfielder, including setting up Diego Costa’s first goal brilliantly but two great chances towards the end put a slight damper on his performance.
Yet Chelsea immediately spurned a glorious chance to double their lead when Costa skewed wide with the goal at his mercy after Willian’s corner had been allowed to run through to him unchallenged.
The England global was furious following the goal as he felt Fer fouled him, but referee Andre Marriner waved away the appeals and the goal stood.
Guidolin played three central defenders but he scrapped the system just before half-time with Wales defender Neil Taylor sacrificed as Swansea returned to four at the back.
Costa had embodied that turnaround with two goals in his first three league games, and he was at his snarling best at the Liberty Stadium.
Amat’s feud with the Spain global striker might have seen him dismissed in the minutes that followed. Cahill did manage to provide two super blocks as stoppage time approached but the mistake cost Chelsea dearly.
Chelsea deserved to beat Swansea on Sunday and they feel they were robbed of victory by the referee.
Moments later, Oscar s 20-yard shot was superbly saved by the flying Fabianski.
Chelsea were complacent in their trip to Swansea, coming away with just a point.
Advertisement
But Chelsea were totally in control up until that point and, although they had made a mistake, I still felt they were well in the ascendancy.
