Swansea City continued their pre-season preparations on Saturday afternoon with a resounding 5-1 victory away at Bristol Rovers.

A splendid first half from a strong Swans line-up saw the visitors go in at the break 4-0 up, with the second half understandably more subdued after a rampant opening 45 minutes.

However, they still managed to round off the victory with a late goal from Wayne Routledge, even if their opposition pulled one back beforehand.

Goals, goals, goals

 After ending their tour of the US with a disappointing result against Richmond Kickers, losing 2-0 to the third-tier side, Swansea were clearly looking to make up for it back in the UK against League One side Bristol Rovers.

With Bafetimbi Gomis seemingly on his way out, there is no senior recognised striker on the books at the Liberty Stadium. However, André Ayew ended the season in the role and started in it today, again showing his quality as he opened the scoring only six minutes in.

A splendid free-kick broke the deadlock, Ayew this time deadly from a dead ball rather than open play in the absence of regular set piece taker Gylfi Sigurdsson

The Rovers nearly equalied just moments later, but Kristoffer Nordfeldt pulled off a good save to deny Byron Moore and only five minutes later Leroy Fer would double the Swans' advantage with an excellent individual effort.

As the flurry of goals continued, Stephen Kingsley added a third before the 20 minute mark, his cross inadvertently flying into the top corner of Steve Mildenhall's net.

Bristol did settle down and started to deal with Swansea better, but the visitors still added a fourth before the break. 

Kyle Naughton was the scorer, getting his name on the scoresheet on the stroke of half time following chances gone by for Nathan Dyer and Ayew.

Angel Rangel and André Ayew certainly enjoyed their afternoon in Bristol. (Photo: Swansea City AFC)
Angel Rangel and André Ayew certainly enjoyed their afternoon in Bristol. (Photo: Swansea City AFC)

Bristol settle and have their say, but the Swans have the last word

As most second halves in friendlies tend to go, this one was plagued with substitutions and changes that prevented either team from being particularly potent.

However, after six half time swaps, Bristol were rejuvenated and pulled a goal back just five minutes after the restart through Peterborough United loanee Luke James.

The promising young striker showed great skill to break through, then finished coolly past Nordfeldt to register a consolation for his temporary employers.

From one youthful forward to another, James was almost followed on the scoresheet by Oliver McBurnie of Swansea, but his glanced header bounced against the post just past the hour.

Two minutes later though, Routledge would give the travelling fans a fifth goal to celebrate, latching onto an impressive Jack Cork ball and finishing with the style that simply summed up Swansea's display - albeit against a lower league opponent.

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About the author
Ameé Ruszkai
Head of the Sunderland, Swansea City and women football sections at VAVEL UK. Email: [email protected]