MX23RW : Tuesday, December 24 00:21:43| >> :600:91234:91234:

Live Commentary: Swansea City 3-0 West Ham United - as it happened

Sports Mole brings you live commentary as Swansea City and West Ham United aim to build upon winning starts to the new Premier League season at the Liberty Stadium.

Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live commentary from Swansea City's home Premier League encounter against West Ham United at the Liberty Stadium.

Both of these sides got their campaigns off to winning starts last weekend, with Swansea in particular impressing during their 5-0 victory away at Queens Park Rangers.

For manager Michael Laudrup, today's visit of the Hammers will mark his first competitive home match in charge of the Swans.


2.41pmBut from this match, that's as far as we go. Thanks again and enjoy all the football this afternoon!

2.40pmThanks for joining us this afternoon. However, we're not done there. We have live commentary of Manchester United vs. Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur vs. West Brom. Both are underway now!

2.38pmSwansea go top of the league with a comfortable win in truth. They played some really good football, particularly after the break. For West Ham, I doubt they can't wait to get on the bus and get home!

2.37pmFull time: Swansea 3-0 West Ham

90 minThree minutes of stoppage time to be played...

88 minYet more possession stuff from the Swans. They really will be hard to beat at home this season.

86 min...But Jarvis can only find a Swansea head. Just about sums up West Ham's second half showing.

85 minCorner to West Ham...

83 minSubstitution: Debutant Ben Davies takes the place of Neil Taylor at left-back.

83 minBooking! West Ham's Reid is booked for the most deliberate hand ball you are every likely to see.

80 minSubstitution: Swansea's Routledge comes off to be replaced by Luke Moore.

79 minPass, pass, pass. That's the order of the day for Swansea. They are keep the ball for around one or two minutes at a time, which is visibly frustrating the West Ham players.

76 minChance! Dyer will want to forget that one in a hurry! The winger robs James Collins of possession, but his shot his high, wide and not very handsome.

75 minSubstitution: The world's worst corner taker De Guzman is replaced by Kenny Agustien.

72 minSwansea are more than content to keep possession right now. And why wouldn't they be? They've been very good today.

69 minSubstitution: Final change for West Ham as Alou Diarra takes the place of Diame.

69 minIt's a good effort from Vaz Te, but it's easily held by Vorm.

68 minFree-kick to West Ham in a dangerous position. They need a goal, and quick!

66 min"We are top of the league" cry to Swansea supporters. They are indeed. So far they have scored eight goals and conceded none. Very, very good start. Laudrup must think the Premier League is easy!

64 minAt last Graham gets his name on the scoresheet! Routledge is the creator, crossing for Graham, whose shot deflects beyond Jaaskelainen. Game over!

63 minGOAL! Swansea 3-0 West Ham (Graham)

61 minSubstitution: Cole comes off for West Ham to be replaced by Maiga.

59 minChance! Michu and Wayne Routledge link well for the latter to fire at goal, which is cleared by Reid.

55 minChance! How did Graham miss that?! Dyer slots him through to put him one-on-one with Jaaskelainen. The striker hesitates, before sending his effort wide of the target. He really should have made it 3-0.

52 minBooking! Nolan goes into the book for a late challenge on Leon Britton. Reckless from the West Ham skipper.

50 minAnd what an awful corner from De Guzman. He under-hit his first two and now he has kicked the ball out of play! Surely he cannot keep taking these, can he!?

49 minChance! A curling effort from Swansea's Danny Graham is palmed away for a corner by Jaaskelainen.

48 minHaving said that, Vaz Te does appear to be starting quite deep. He seems to be in an advanced midfield role at the moment.

46 minIt seems that 'Big Sam Allardyce' listened to me during the break - he must be a fan of Sports Mole! Ricardo Vaz Te comes on to partner Cole, with Tomkins making way.

45 minWe're back underway at the Liberty...

1.47pmIt's August and we have a match called off because of rain - only in England hey! Feel sorry for all those Reading fans that have made that long trip.

1.45pmBREAKING NEWS! Sunderland vs. Reading has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. More to follow.

1.39pmFor those of you looking to pass a few minutes during the break, why not read our half-time report here? Go on, you know you want to!

1.35pmA really good half of football at the Liberty Stadium. West Ham have been in giving mood, handing the Swans both goals. West Ham really need to get more support up to lone striker Cole during the second 45 minutes.

1.33pmHalf-time: Swansea 2-0 West Ham

45+2 minChance! It's all West Ham! A header from Tomkins appears goalbound until Taylor clears off the line. In fairness, they don't deserve to be two goals behind here.

45+1 minChance! The corner finds Nolan at the back post, but his volley is blocked by the Swansea defence. The resultant corner is punched clear by Vorm.

44 minCorner for the Hammers, won by Cole...

43 minIt's West Ham's turn to enjoy a bit of possession, but they are struggling to breakthrough the Swansea rearguard. Cole is in desperate need of some support up front.

40 minSwansea are really playing well now. They're knocking the ball around with real assurance. West Ham are chasing shadows at times.

38 minBooking! West Ham's Carlton Cole is cautioned for putting his hand into Chico Flores's face. Have to say the Spaniard made the most of that one.

36 minChance! This time it's Swansea. De Guzman frees Taylor, whose left footed effort is tipped over by Jaaskelainen. Somewhat predictably, the corner comes to nothing.

35 minChance! What a save from Vorm! He denies Jarvis a debut goal with a smart stop from close range. Ashley Williams reacts quickest the hack clear the danger.

34 minJust been treated to a replay of Swansea's first goal and it appears I may have been a little harsh on Jaaskelainen. Rangel's shot on second inspection may have been going in, which takes away the dreaded OG from the goalkeeper.

30 minMeanwhile, dangerous free-kick for West Ham is pushed clear by Vorm. This is turning into an exciting game now.

29 minWhat on earth is James Collins doing?! I think someone has told him that he is Franz Beckenbauer. He dallies on the ball, before underhitting a pass back to his keeper. Michu nips in to divert the ball past Jaaskelainen. West Ham are certainly doing their utmost to help Swansea here!

28 minGOAL! Swansea 2-0 West Ham (Michu)

27 minBit of verbals now between Michu and Kevin Nolan which goes back to that challenge on Tomkins. Having to say with my limited lip reading skills, Michu seems to have grasped the English language pretty quickly!!

25 minWest Ham's James Tomkins is currently on the floor after been clipped by Michu. He makes a meal of that to say the least!

22 minMeanwhile, up the other end Swansea goalkeeper Vorm does well to punch clear a cross from Jarvis. Extremely brave work for the Dutch international, who was fouled by Reid in the process.

20 minA moment that West Ham goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen will want to forget! Rangel, who has played well so far, sends over a cross which the Finnish stopper turns into his own net. Oh dear!

19 minGOAL! Swansea 1-0 West Ham (Jaaskelainen OG)

17 min...But yet again it is poor from De Guzman, who cannot beat the man at the front post. It makes you wonder whether he actually practices those in training!!

16 minAnother corner for Swansea as Jarvis hacks away a shot from Neil Taylor...

15 minChance! Dyer feeds Angel Rangel down the right, who in turn drills in a low cross. Any Swansea touch would have diverted the ball in, but James Collins nips in to clear the danger.

12 minHe's up now though and looks okay, thankfully. That is the second player that Diame has flattened in a matter of minutes!

12 minNasty clash of heads between West Ham teammates Diame and Winston Reid. The latter is down and requires treatment.

10 min...But De Guzman's weak effort is easily cleared. Poor from the Dutchman.

9 minCorner to Swansea as Nathan Dyer's shot is blocked by George McCartney...

8 minFirst foul of the day is committed by West Ham's Mohamed Diame, who hacks down Jonathan De Guzman. May have been a booking later in the match.

6 minIt's end-to-end at the moment, but neither side are able to find that killer pass in the vital area.

4 minHave to say West Ham have started the better of the two sides here. They're not allowing Swansea to play their trademark passing football at the moment.

3 minGary Neville on Twitter: "Swansea or West Ham 1-1 draw for me. ( don't bet on it. My predictions are rubbish)" Avoid putting your money on 1-1 then people!

2 minChance! Brilliant cross from debutant Jarvis is just missed by Kevin Nolan. Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm was nowhere near that.

12.46pmSwansea get us underway...

12.43pmThe players are out and the handshakes have been completed. Couple of minutes to go now...

12.42pmBit of a treat for Swansea fans, Ki Sung-Yeung has just been unveiled on the pitch. The Korean signed from Celtic yesterday but the deal was not concluded in time for him to feature today.

12.41pmAnd I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the fact that they are both in my dream team this weekend...honest!

12.40pmRight then, five minutes to go until game time at the Liberty. What we all backing? I'm going to say 2-0 Swansea, with Danny Graham and Michu finding the net.

12.36pmFrom a West Ham point of view, they will be hoping that new boy Jarvis hits the ground running. He bagged two goals for his former club Wolves during their trip to Swansea last season.

12.33pmHave to say that the man currently pictured on this article (Michu) looked a good piece of business for Swansea. The Spaniard, who cost �2m, bagged a brace against QPR last weekend. He hit 15 last season for Rayo Vallecano in La Liga and it would take a brave man to bet against finding the net this afternoon.

12.30pmFor full team news, follow this link.

12.28pmFor hosting Swansea, reported Manchester City target Scott Sinclair is named among the substitutes. This could be his last outing for the Welsh club, should he get on.

12.27pmRight, let's get straight into the team news. Perhaps the biggest talking point is the fact that visiting West Ham have handed a debut to Matt Jarvis, who only signed from Wolves yesterday afternoon.

12.20pmAfternoon all. Looks like we have a decent early Premier League encounter today. Always enjoy watching Swansea play, particularly at home.
ID:41808: cacheID:41808:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:22276:
Written by
Liam Apicella
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Sam Allardyce
Read Next:
Team News: Jarvis handed first start for Hammers
>
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!