Premier League: Swansea 3 Blackburn 0

14 April 2012 18:11

Blackburn Rovers became further entrenched in the relegation zone after suffering a 3-0 defeat at Swansea City on Saturday.

Strikes from Gylfi Sigurdsson, Nathan Dyer and a Scott Dann own goal gave Swansea their first win in five matches, while leaving Rovers three points adrift of safety.

Both sides came into the match on the back of dismal recent runs, each having lost their last four Premier League matches.

The opening stages of the match served to show the differing styles of the two sides, with Swansea's cultured, short-passing game, up against Blackburn's more direct, agricultural style.

The early exchanges were tentative to say the least and supporters had to wait for the 22nd minute for any real incident of note, as the home side had a penalty appeal turned down by referee Mark Clattenburg.

Morten Gamst Pedersen, playing in the centre of Rovers five-man midfield, was late tracking the run of Sigurdsson and appeared to clip the heels of the advancing Icelander, as he looked to get onto a pass from Angel Rangel.

Replays showed that the Norwegian was fortunate to have escaped without reprimand.

Swansea were starting to find the feet of their dangerous wide duo, Dyer and Scott Sinclair, with increasing regularity, and Sigurdsson, floating dangerously in between the lines, forced Robinson into a good save from 25-yards after 35 minutes.

If that served as a warning shot, then Blackburn cannot say they had not been warned as Sigurdsson opened the scoring two minutes later.

Rovers never really cleared the corner that followed the Icelander's first effort, and when Joe Allen found the on-loan Hoffenheim midfielder with a clever cross-field pass, Sigurdsson bent a left-footed effort into the far top corner.

Blackburn were rocking defensively and after a poor pass from N'Zonzi, Danny Graham's curling effort from 18-yards forced an excellent save from Robinson down low to his left.

Swansea were now firmly in the ascendency, and two minutes before half-time they doubled their lead, with Blackburn the creators of their own downfall.

A poor cross from Neil Taylor should have been easily dealt with by Grant Hanley, but his woeful touch fell to Sinclair, who squared to Danny Graham, who flicked the ball to his right for the unmarked Dyer, who made no mistake and doubled the Swans advantage.

With 50 minutes on the clock, Blackburn forced their first real clear-cut opportunity. A long free-kick from Robinson found the head of Bradley Orr, and his header across the box found David Dunn, but he failed to make the necessary contact and it was an easy save for Michel Vorm.

Just minutes later however, and Swansea all but secured the three points with their third goal.

A mesmerizing run down the left from Sinclair saw him go past three Rovers defenders, before cutting back for Sigurdsson, whose shot from point-blank range somehow hit the post, only to rebound off the helpless Scott Dann and into the back of the net.