Swansea City momentarily went top of the Premier League table on Saturday as they made it three wins from three to start the season after beating West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium.
Garry Monk’s men took the lead early through Nathan Dyer, then Wayne Routledge scored a stunning goal (watch above) to make it 2-0. The Swans bossed a poor West Brom side and went 3-0 up in the second half as Dyer latched onto another superb ball from Sigurdsson and slotted home.
In his first full season in charge of Swansea, rookie manager Monk now has nine points from nine as the South Wales side sat on top of the standings before the rest of the weekends games took place. West Brom are without a win in their first three league games.
[RELATED: Watch the full match replay]
For the second home game running, Dyer got the Swans off to a flier as the English winger rounded Ben Foster and slotted home in the second minute to put the home side 1-0 up. Jonas Olsson slipped at a crucial time following Gylfi Sigurdsson’s back heel, as Dyer skipped around him and delicately clipped the ball into the far corner of the net.
Soon after the Swans almost went 2-0 up as the ball broke to Wilfried Bony and the Ivorian smashed an effort just over the bar. After 15 minutes Jonjo Shelvey wriggled free and dug out a delicious cross to the back post which Bony headed just over. The Swans pressure continued to build.
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The Swans continued to press and went 2-0 up midway through the first half thanks to a superb strike from Routledge. A poor clearance from Chris Brunt saw Swansea regain possession on the edge of their own box and Routledge smashed a stunning improvised volley from 20-yards out into the top corner. Swansea were flying and were almost 3-0 up before half time as Routledge’s cross saw West Brom defender Olsson head the ball back towards his own goal and it clipped the crossbar and went out.
West Brom improved after the break but failed to carve out any real clear-cut chances as Swansea always looked more likely to score. Foster saved twice in quick succession following an in-direct free kick inside the box and then the Swans went 3-0 up as Dyer grabbed his second of the game. The winger was set free after a clip around the corner from Sigurdsson and the victory was all but secured for the Swans.
Late on the visitors tried to reduce the lead as Stephane Sessegnon smashed the crossbar with an effort from the edge of the box. However, that was to be the closest the Baggies came as Swansea recorded their third-straight win.
LINEUPS
Swansea City: Fabianski, Rangel, Amat, Williams, Taylor, Ki, Shelvey (Carroll, 84′), Dyer, Sigurdsson, Routledge (Montero, 66′), Bony (Gomis, 79′)
Goals: Dyer (2′ & 70′), Routledge (24′)
West Bromwich Albion: Foster, Wisdom, Dawson, Olsson, Davidson (Gamboa, 72′), Gardner, Mulumbu, Berahino, Dorrans (Sessegnon, 45′), Brunt (Morrison, 72′), Ideye.
