Swansea City saw off Burnley 1-0 on Saturday afternoon, thanks to a late goal from Leroy Fer.
The first half saw very few chances - Jordi Amat had a shot cleared off the line and Fernando Llorente had a couple of half-chances, but there weren’t many chances of note.
Swansea should have taken the lead after the hour mark, Jack Cork flicked on Gylfi Sigurdsson’s corner, finding Federico Fernandez wide open two yards out from goal, who somehow managed to blaze his shot over the bar.
Fer scored the winner with ten minutes to go, Jefferson Montero broke down the left, crossed for Llorente - who’s shot was saved by Tom Heaton - and Fer tapped home the rebound.
Defence rescued by their goalkeeper
Lukasz Fabianski – 9
The keeper made a string of outstanding saves and somehow kept a clean sheet. One of the standout performances of his career for sure.
Kyle Naughton – 7
The fullback linked well with Modou Barrow and Wayne Routledge in attack, but was caught out on a number of occasions when it came to protecting his own goal.
Federico Fernandez – 6
Had a tough time trying to compete with Sam Vokes in the air. Should have scored the opening goal but somehow managed to turn the ball over the bar from two yards out.
Jordi Amat – 6
Played quite well, did enough to keep Andre Gray from scoring, Amat unfortunately doesn’t quite have the same presence as departed captain Ashley Williams though. This defence needs a leader and it may not be one already at the club.
Stephen Kingsley – 8
One of the standout performers. Kingsley was superb going forward and provided the best quality crosses into Llorente, and defender better than most would expect of a young fullback. He can really challenge Neil Taylor for a starting spot in this team.
Midfield was solid throughout
Jack Cork – 6
Wasn’t really involved as much as he would like, and was forced to play further forward than usual thanks to the absence of Sigurdsson in the attacking midfield role.
Leon Britton – 7
The new captain performed quite well in his first game with the armband. Britton was his usual calm and collected self, kept Swansea ticking over while acting as the shield in front of the defence. Replaced after an hour by Sigurdsson.
Leroy Fer – 7
The game passed him by in the first half, performed his defensive duties well but going forward he just didn’t seem all that involved. Fortunately he did score the winning goal, tapping home the rebound from Llorente’s header.
Attack with a lot of promise ahead of the season
Modou Barrow – 9
One of the best players on the pitch this afternoon, Barrow seems to have kicked on from last season and got much better over the summer. He beat players with ease, provided quality ammunition for Llorente and did well in his defensive duties.
Fernando Llorente – 8
A very good debut from Swansea’s new number nine. He held the ball up extremely well, bringing others into the game and was excellent in the air.
Wayne Routledge – 6
Found himself switching flanks because he couldn’t really get into the game, he defended well and was tidy in possession but couldn’t make the same impact as the other forwards.
The substitutes
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 6
The Icelandic international didn’t seem match fit when he was brought on, and wasn’t involved as much as he would have liked.
Jefferson Montero– 7
The winger was fantastic after he replaced Barrow, he was a constant threat down the left flank and it was no surprise that the winning goal came from that side.
Angel Rangel – 6
Came on late for Routledge to protect the lead.