Swans Out-Foxed At The Death

A late Danny Fox free kick denied Swansea City all three points after an entertaining encounter at the Ricoh Arena.

Jordi Gomez had given the Swans a 67th minute lead with a sublime curling free kick from 25 yards, but it was outdone by Fox's stunning effort.

Both goals came from debatable free kick decisions from a referee who made some very questionable decisions throughout the evening.

But his performance should not take away from an open and fairly entertaining game in the midlands, where Roberto Martinez recalled Dorus de Vries in goal following his injury, whilst there were also starts for Jason Scotland and Owain Tudur Jones in a rare 4-4-2 formation.

The visitors achilles heel of being seemingly incapable to defend corners nearly handed Coventry an early lead. After somehow scrambling the ball off the line from the initial corner, the Swans defence was then indebted to the linesman's flag for ruling out Clinton Morrison's close range strike.

Martinez's men began to find their feet in the game and were causing the Sky Blues defence problems of their own. Mark Gower was seeing a lot of the ball on the left hand side and the former Southend man came close to scoring after good link up play involving Jason Scotland.

Gorka Pintado had a strong appeal for a penalty waved away by a combination of the referee and linesman before De Vries marked his return to the side with a fine save to his right hand side.

There were anxious moments for the Swans, mainly caused by the ever dangerous Michael Mifsud who caused Fede Bessone all sorts of problems throughout the night. Ashley Williams timely intervention denied Morrison a clean strike on goal, whilst at the other end Angel Rangel got his entry for miss of the season in after somehow managing to volley wide from 6 yards.

After a strong finish to the first half the Swans started the second brightly, with Gomez nearly giving the visitors the lead with a close range header.

The Spaniard then won a soft free kick on the right hand side of the area, and then curled the ball into the top corner to send the 821 travelling Jacks into wild celebrations.

However, victory was far from certain with Mifsud wreaking havoc down the right hand side. A brave block by skipper Garry Monk denied Freddie Eastwood, whilst Morrison was once again frustrated by the assistant's flag following De Vries' fumble.

As the game wore on it became apparent that the referee seemed keen to even things up after awarding Swansea a dubious free kick for the goal, and so it proved as Pratley was punished for, well frankly I have no idea what he was punished for!

Up stepped Fox to curl a fine left footed effort off the underside of the bar and into the goal to earn Chris Coleman's side a share of the spoils.

A draw was probably a fair reflection of the encounter, but having been so cruelly denied by a poor decision it was frustrating for everyone concerned with Swansea City.

Angel Rangel – A tough choice between the Spaniard and Williams, but his raids down the right were impressive. Don't be surprised to see Premiership clubs sniffing round in January.
A confident return to the side, coming for and dealing with a succession of long throw-ins. One fine save in the first half but was lucky to get away with a fumble that nearly handed Morrison an equaliser Typically solid in defence and impressive going forward. Should have given us a first half lead, but other than that this showing will only enhance his reputation further. Dealt with the threat of Eastwood and Morrison well although was exposed occassionally when one on one with Eastwood. One outstanding block to prevent a certain goal Another hugely impressive performance by the ever improving Welshman. Made some timely interventions and didn't put a foot wrong during the game. Run ragged by Mifsud from first whistle to last. Had little help from Gower but couldn't cope with Misfud running at him. Offered little going forward. A trademark free kick from the Spaniard and the usual class and guile on the ball. As usual, had a fair few lumps taken out of him by the opposition. A more conservative performance than we are used to seeing but nonetheless effective. An encouraging return to the first team. Looked a little off the pace on occassions but will only get better with more game time. Twisted and turned his way down the left flank with relative joy. Needs the confidence a goal will bring to really become a force. Held the ball up well and linked play quite well. Seemed to have won a penalty but turned down by the referee. Too often not strong enough when holding up the ball, had some poor touches and generally failed to inspire. Went close with one effort but other than that failed to impress. Fifteen minutes of action after coming on for Scotland. Hardly got a touch as Coventry piled on the pressure Injury time substitute.

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