Rodgers disappointed as Swans earn a point against the Lions

Swansea City manager admitted he was disappointed with this his team’s performance in their 1-1 draw against Millwall on a cold Friday night at the Liberty where a win would of moved them into the top 2 of the league. Millwall boss Kenny Jackett came into to the match with the utmost respect for the Welsh team and the Londoners nearly stunned the Welsh crowd when on-form Steve Morison whipped in a low cross that required De Vries to sheppard it clear after only 20 seconds. The first 5 minutes were all Millwall but soon Swansea began to get a foot hold as Scott Sinclair did what he did best, cutting in off the left side however his curling shot was just narrowly over.

It was on the 18^th minute that Swansea took the lead. A pin point corner from set piece specialist Andrea Orlandi found the head of an unmarked Angel Rangel who powered the ball into the back of the Millwall net. Swansea pressed for a second as Sinclair hit a tame shot at Lion’s keeper David Forde however Millwall soon fought back. Utterly awful defending in the Swansea penalty area as the ball was pinballed around like something out of an Under 7s football match, which resulted in the ball bobbling out to Mkandawire who lashed the ball through a group of players and past De Vries. Swansea were definitely having more luck on the wings as Dyer and Orlandi had crosses scrambled away by the Millwall defence as they pushed to restore the lead.

The second half belonged to the visitors as Swansea failed to register a single shot on target, with Josh McQuoid forcing a fantastic acrobatic save out of De Vries with a header from a James Henry’s free-kick. Jermaine Easter came on for his Swansea debut however didn’t make any impact on the match. The Swans did have two glorious chances however it could be suggested that Nathan Dyer had a fear of shooting as he opted for the difficult options on both occasions where the easiest would have been to test Forde. Millwall nearly had the grandstand finish they deserved as James Henry had a shot easily saved by De Vries and then Steve Morison had 3 opportunities capitalizing on poor Swansea defending that irritated the fans senselessly. The first he ballooned wide, the latter 2 he forced saves out of De Vries who was deservedly won the match of the match award. The fans shared Rodgers’ opinion of the performance as a few boos echoed around the stadium as the referee blew for full time, who was sporting a fluorescent pink top for the second half after a kit clash with the Millwall away kit, which amused the Swans boss and fellow journalists during the post-match press conference.

Npower Championship 10/12/10

Liberty Stadium

Att: 13,853

HT: 1-1

Chris Penn