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Swansea logo
Championship | Gameweek 9
Oct 31, 2020 at 3pm UK
Liberty Stadium
Blackburn logo

Swansea
2 - 0
Blackburn

Cabango (25'), Ayew (61')
Ayew (19'), Bidwell (30'), Cabango (55')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Andre Ayew inspires Swansea to victory over Blackburn

The Ghanaian captained the side against Blackburn and also found the target.

Captain Andre Ayew led by example for Swansea, scoring the goal which sealed a 2-0 win over Blackburn which cut Reading's lead at the top of the Sky Bet Championship to four points.

Ayew – made skipper after club captain Matt Grimes was left among the substitutes – scored just past the hour mark after Ben Cabango's header had given the home side a 1-0 interval lead.

The routine victory made it four games unbeaten for Swansea, who climb to second in the table.

It also extended Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray's barren return in league matches against Swansea to seven games as a boss without a win.

Swansea were not at their free-flowing best, but with goalkeeper Freddie Woodman in solid form and Blackburn's threatening moments rarely sustained, it was a comfortable home win.

The visitors' early passing was crisp and incisive and they created an opportunity for Adam Armstrong from which he should have tested Woodman. Instead, the Blackburn marksman could only clip his shot wide.

Swansea's response was a defence-splitting pass from midfielder Yan Dhanda, but striker Jamal Lowe was not sharp enough to benefit.

Regular captain Grimes had surprisingly been left on the bench by Swans head coach Steve Cooper and in the midfielder's absence, the home side lacked their customary fluency.

But it did not stop them from taking the lead from a set-piece in the 25th minute when Cabango outmuscled Darragh Lenihan to power home a header from Connor Roberts' corner.

It was 20-year-old Wales central defender Cabango's second goal of the season, following his breakthrough in the previous campaign.

Ayew almost increased Swansea's lead when his downward header from Roberts' cross was tipped away by Blackburn goalkeeper Aynsley Pears.

But it was Rovers who ended the first half by mounting pressure and the combination of Armstrong and Ben Brereton caused moments of danger.

An awful header by Kyle Naughton left Armstrong in but Woodman was alert enough to smother the effort.

The Blackburn strike pair continued to cause problems after the break and it was a surprise when manager Mowbray chose to replace Brereton as part of a double substitution.

The impact was instant, but not in the way Mowbray had planned as his team fell 2-0 behind seconds later in the 61st minute.

Roberts did well to release Dhanda down the right and the former Liverpool man's perfect cross was met with a firm downward header by Ayew for his sixth goal of the season.

Swansea sent on Viktor Gyokeres late on but the striker, on loan from Brighton, was unable to profit from a couple of openings.

Blackburn faded in the final quarter and rarely looked likely to launch a comeback.

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Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall pictured on September 24, 2020
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds30189360194163
2Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd30196541212061
3Burnley30151323692758
4Sunderland291510442241855
5Blackburn RoversBlackburn30136113429545
6West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom301014639271244
7Middlesbrough29128947361144
8Norwich CityNorwich30119104942742
9Bristol City30101283835342
10Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds30119104346-342
11Coventry CityCoventry30118114138341
12Watford30125134042-241
13Millwall301010103027340
14Queens Park RangersQPR30911103339-638
15Preston North EndPreston3081393338-537
16Oxford UnitedOxford Utd30910113444-1037
17Swansea CitySwansea3097143242-1034
18Stoke CityStoke30711122837-932
19Cardiff CityCardiff30710133351-1831
20Portsmouth3079143652-1630
21Hull City3078153140-929
22Derby CountyDerby3076173241-927
23Luton TownLuton3076173049-1927
24Plymouth ArgylePlymouth30510152963-3425


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