A 10-man Chelsea managed to fight back to earn a draw at the Liberty Stadium when Bosingwa’s 92nd minute low drive deflected of Neil Taylor and spun into Swansea’s net. It was a cruel last minute twist for the home side who had been put ahead by ex-Chelsea striker Scott Sinclair in the first half. Chelsea had gone down to 10 men late in the second half after Ashley Cole was booked for a second yellow after a rash challenge on Nathan Dyer.
Swansea came into the match having only lost one game, and conceded just six goals, at home all season. They would also have started the game in good spirits after their last game at the Liberty Stadium, which saw them beat Arsenal 3-2. Interestingly, their stadium, and entire team combined, cost less than Chelsea’s £50 million striker Fernando Torres.
Chelsea started the game with a somewhat patchwork midfield with Lampard, Ramires and John Obi Mikel all out injured. Romeu, Meireles and, Malouda -making a rare first team appearance – started and never seemed to get to grips with passing the ball quick enough to their strikers. This left it to David Luiz to spearhead attacks, which he did in the opening 15 minutes by making spirited runs up the left flank. However these came to little as Mata, Torres and Sturridge failed to capitalise on attacking momentum.
It was Swansea that had the best chances at the start of the game. After a lofted ball from midfield forced a mistake from Cech, Swansea found themselves looking at a gaping net. But both Gylfi Sigurdsson and Danny Graham had shots saved off the line by Ivanovic and Luiz respectively. For the rest of the first half Chelsea looked far from comfortable and they were punished in the 39th minute. Sigurdsson curled in a costless kick that was meekly headed away by Bosingwa. The ball fell for Sinclair who looped a brilliant half volley from the edge of the area into the top corner of the Chelsea net.
Chelsea started the second half stronger, with much of the possession and many more chances. Substitute Michael Essien gave the visitors a needed boost in midfield and came close to scoring but his 25 yard half volley sailed just above the bar. However the home-side were resilient and hardworking, with Ashley Williams making many key challenges in Swansea’s defence. This resilience started to effect the visitors who became erratic with their challenges late on in the second half. This culminated in Ashley Cole being sent off in the 85th minute for a late tackle on Nathan Dyer. The England left-back had been plagued by Dyer all night and could not dispute the nature of his dismissal.
However eventually the home-side started to tire and Bosingwa made a forceful run into Swansea’s box and fired a shot that bounced off Taylor and into the net. The game will cement the notion that the Liberty Stadium is one of the toughest away games a team will face this season. It was a hard fought draw for the visitors who remain 4th in the table and undefeated in 2012.