Swansea City made it two wins from two to start the season as Nathan Dyer’s early goal was the difference at the Liberty Stadium.
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The Swans took the lead in the 23rd minute as Dyer broke free of Burnley’s defense and slotted home what turned out to be the game-winner.
To their credit Burnley pushed the home side hard but Sean Dyche’s men wasted several good chances as Lukas Jutkiewicz put a header over from close range in the second half when he should have equalized.
Burnley pressed for the crucial goal late on and were the better team in the second half but Garry Monk’s men continued their impressive start to the new campaign by grinding out another win. Swansea prevailed in the first ever top-flight meeting between these two sides.
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Early on Swansea nearly took the lead as Wilfried Bony’s header was cleared off the line by Jason Shackell in the 5th minute following Wayne Routledge’s pinpoint cross.
After that early scare Burnley settled down as Danny Ings went close twice in quick succession. The England U-21 striker smashed just wide, then forced a great reaction stop from Lukasz Fabianski soon after as the Clarets pushed for the opener. In the 18th minute Routledge again caused problems down the left and his ball found Gylfi Sigurdsson but the Icelandic saw his shot saved well by Burnley’ keeper Tom Heaton.
In the 23rd minute Dyer put Swansea ahead as he beat Ben Mee, accelerated away from the Burnley defense and calmly slotted an effort into the bottom corner which Heaton should have done better with. The Swans were 1-0 up. Both teams huffed and puffed during the rest of the first half but it was the home side he had a comfortable lead at the break in South Wales. After the interval Burnley almost drew level when Jutkiewicz capitalized on a bad pass from Jordi Amat but Swansea’s skipper Ashley Williams came to the rescue as he blocked Jutkiewicz superbly.
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Burnley continued to push for the equalizer in the second half as Ings had a shot blocked, then Jutkiewicz missed their best chance of the game so far. A cross from the right found Jutkiewicz who beat Amat to the ball but sent his header over the bar from six-yards out. A great chance squandered by the Clarets.
Late on Swansea came close to doubling their lead but Ki drilled an effort over after Bafetimbi Gomis battled for the ball in the box. The match played out with Burley trying to press but the Swans held on to make it two wins from two to start the season.
LINEUPS
Swansea City: Fabianski, Rangel, Amat, Williams, Taylor, Ki, Shelvey, Dyer (Montero, 66′), Sigurdsson, Routledge (Tiendalli, 90′), Bony (Gomis, 64′)
Goal: Dyer (23′)
Burnley: Heaton; Trippier, Shackell, Duff, Mee; Arfield, Jones (Sordell, 90′), Marney, Taylor (Wallace, 72′); Ings, Jutkiewicz (Barnes, 82′)
