MX23RW : Monday, December 23 14:18:31| >> :120:55042:55042:
[monks data]
Attendance: 17,804
Swansea logo
Championship | Gameweek 41
Apr 9, 2019 at 7.45pm UK
 
Stoke logo

3-1

James (23'), van der Hoorn (40'), McBurnie (86')
FT(HT: 2-1)
McClean (45')
Martins Indi (53'), Edwards (60')

Graham Potter: 'Dan James performance as good as I've seen'

Potter: 'James performance as good as I've seen'
© Reuters
The 21-year-old Swansea winger opened the scoring in a 3-1 victory.

Swansea manager Graham Potter hailed Dan James' performance as the best he has ever seen and declared him "above the Championship" as he starred in a 3-1 win over nine-man Stoke.

In front of his watching Wales manager Ryan Giggs who was in the Liberty Stadium stands, James tore Stoke to pieces with yet another fine individual display.

The 21-year-old winger opened the scoring with a curling 25-yard effort and his dangerous running led to sendings off for Stoke duo Bruno Martins Indi and Tom Edwards.

Mike Van der Hoorn and Oli McBurnie completed the home scoring with James McClean responding for Stoke at the end of the first half.

"I have run out of superlatives on Dan. We were just lucky to witness it," Potter said.

"It was as good an individual performance as I have witnessed. He was so, so good.

"If you are being honest that level of performance is above the Championship. He works hard for the team. Dan will be the first to say he needs the team to help him get the ball and the structure to express himself, but he has got quality to top it all off.

"Ryan knows what it's like to play as a wide man and I'm sure he'll be delighted."

James came close to joining Leeds in January but Premier League clubs will surely soon be circling on the winger such has been the quality of his performances in 2019.

Swansea are now seven points off the Championship play-off spots and have a favourable run-in.

"The collective effort was incredible and there were some high-quality performances. The first half was our best half of the season so far," Potter added.

"We do not think about the play-offs. We just focus on the next match, but we are confident and we believe we can beat anybody. Clearly, we need points to be able to get into the play-offs so we will see what happens."

James led the Stoke defence a merry dance throughout and he cut inside on his right foot before curling an effort in off the post.

He was then fouled for the first time by Edwards and from the resulting free-kick, Van der Hoorn fired home. McClean made it 2-1 with a drive from 30 yards.

After the break, Martins Indi received a straight red card for hacking down James and being judged as the last man. Edwards was the next to receive his marching orders for yet another foul on James.

McBurnie made the game safe by heading home Barrie McKay's cross late on.

"It was a difficult night. Let's give Swansea credit – I thought they were excellent in the first half. We struggled to contain them and the sendings off killed us," said Swansea manager Nathan Jones.

"A lot of people have struggled to contain James. He's in good form and if he continues in that vein he'll be a top player."

Jones took issue with the decision of referee James Linington to send off Martins Indi.

He added: "The second one is a booking and I can't complain, but the first one is 100 per cent not a red card.

"It has to be an obvious goalscoring opportunity and it was far from it.

"I've looked at it on the video. James has gone round the last defender, but he still has a hell of a lot to do."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '6c102c7d-8979-414d-b214-5ba7a2934aa6');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:match-reports');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Potter hails James after starring role in win over Stoke'});

ID:355800: cacheID:355800:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5719:
Written by
P A
No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Nathan Jones in charge of Stoke City on March 2, 2019
Read Next:
Nathan Jones heaps praise on "outstanding" Stoke
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd22155232112148
2Leeds UnitedLeeds22136341152645
3Burnley2212822891944
4Sunderland22127334181643
5Blackburn RoversBlackburn2111462518737
6Middlesbrough22105738281035
7West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom22811326161035
8Watford2110473028234
9Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds229582830-232
10Millwall217772118328
11Swansea CitySwansea227692424027
12Bristol City226972628-227
13Norwich CityNorwich226883734326
14Queens Park RangersQPR2251072328-525
15Luton TownLuton2274112538-1325
16Derby CountyDerby2266102728-124
17Coventry CityCoventry2266102834-624
18Preston North EndPreston2241172229-723
19Stoke CityStoke2257102330-722
20Portsmouth204882535-1020
21Hull City2247112131-1019
22Cardiff CityCardiff2146111934-1518
23Oxford UnitedOxford Utd2146112137-1618
24Plymouth ArgylePlymouth2146112245-2318


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!