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SwanseaSwansea City0West HamWest Ham United0

Swansea City 0-0 West Ham United

By Saj ChowdhuryBBC Sport
Swansea City's Chico Flores (right) heads an attempt on goal watched by West Ham United's Winston Reid (centre)

Swansea and West Ham settled for a point in a match that contained few clear-cut opportunities at a rain-drenched Liberty Stadium.

West Ham created more chances than the home side with Stewart Downing forcing saves from Michel Vorm who then almost punched the ball into his own net.

Midfielder Ravel Morrison also went close when he fired wide from 10 yards.

West Ham came for a point - Laudrup

Home keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen produced two great blocks to deny Swansea's Chico Flores and Wilfried Bony.

The Bony chance was the only effort of note in a second half that failed to match a relatively entertaining first 45 minutes.

Swans manager Michael Laudrup may be left perplexed at his side's lack of attacking endeavour in their first goalless draw of the season, while counterpart Sam Allardyce will have been disappointed by the Hammers' wastefulness in front of goal.

The point lifts West Ham up to 15th, while the Swans, who made seven changes from the side that started against Kuban Krasnodar in the Europa League on Thursday, go ninth.

Flores drew a point-blank save from Jaaskelainen but that was the only effort of note from Laudrup's side during a first 45 minutes which the Hammers controlled.

The visitors had only scored in one of their past five away league games but winger Downing did his best to remedy that, twice forcing good saves from Vorm in the first half.

There followed a howler by the Dutch keeper when he fisted a clearance towards his own net and was only spared embarrassment by the athleticism of defender Angel Rangel, who cleared.

Sam Allardyce unhappy with poor finishing

England Under-21 international Morrison, an outside bet for a place in the senior squad for Brazil, also tested the Swansea goal with a low angled strike that just drifted past the left-hand upright, while Guy Demel scooped over from six yards.

Both managers made tactical changes in attack midway through the second half after an uninspiring spell following the restart.

Allardyce brought on striker Carlton Cole for his first appearance of his second spell with the club, while Laudrup sent on Ivorian Bony.

And it was last season's Dutch league top scorer Bony who had the best and only opportunity of the half when his fierce strike from eight yards was tipped over by the ever-alert Jaaskelainen.

Swansea now travel to Cardiff for the first all-Welsh Premier League encounter, while West Ham host Aston Villa.

Swansea manager Michael Laudrup:

"I knew it would be very difficult as they enjoyed huge success playing like this against Tottenham, when they won 3-0 [previous away fixture].

"We knew they would play without a striker and with six in midfield and it is difficult.

"You also know they are so good at set-pieces and we had some problems when they had four or five in succession in the first half.

"We don't have the tallest guys but in the second half, despite not being at our best, we controlled it."

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce:

"We should have had it over and done with by half-time.

"We showed our classic counter-attacking football, but unfortunately our finishing qualities let us down.

"We limited Swansea to one header from a set-piece. In the second half we didn't pass it as well as in the first. It's disappointing.

"It's our fifth clean sheet in nine matches but we have only nine points in total and that's not good enough."

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Line-ups

Swansea

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Vorm
  • 22RangelBooked at 65mins
  • 3Taylor
  • 7Britton
  • 4Flores Moreno
  • 6Williams
  • 12Dyer
  • 20De Guzmán
  • 26Vázquez GarcíaSubstituted forBonyat 66'minutes
  • 9Pérez Cuesta
  • 15RoutledgeSubstituted forHernándezat 61'minutes

Substitutes

  • 2Amat
  • 10Bony
  • 11Hernández
  • 19Tiendalli
  • 21Cañas Ruiz Herrera
  • 24Pozuelo Melero
  • 25Tremmel

West Ham

Formation 4-2-2-2

  • 22Jääskeläinen
  • 20DemelBooked at 24mins
  • 8Rat
  • 4Nolan
  • 5Tomkins
  • 2Reid
  • 23Downing
  • 16Noble
  • 21DiaméSubstituted forColeat 64'minutes
  • 15MorrisonBooked at 43minsSubstituted forColeat 78'minutesBooked at 87mins
  • 12Vaz TeSubstituted forJarvisat 34'minutes

Substitutes

  • 7Jarvis
  • 11Maiga
  • 13Adrián
  • 14Taylor
  • 17O'Brien
  • 24Cole
  • 26Cole
Referee:
Phil Dowd
Attendance:
20,455

Match Stats

Home TeamSwanseaAway TeamWest Ham
Possession
Home67%
Away33%
Shots
Home10
Away15
Shots on Target
Home5
Away4
Corners
Home9
Away6
Fouls
Home12
Away14

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Swansea City 0, West Ham United 0.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Swansea City 0, West Ham United 0.

  3. Post update

    Foul by Angel Rangel (Swansea City).

  4. Post update

    Razvan Rat (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  5. Post update

    Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Joe Cole.

  6. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Razvan Rat (West Ham United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

  7. Post update

    Hand ball by Leon Britton (Swansea City).

  8. Post update

    Attempt saved. Carlton Cole (West Ham United) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by James Tomkins.

  9. Post update

    Offside, Swansea City. Neil Taylor tries a through ball, but Wilfried Bony is caught offside.

  10. Post update

    Foul by Michu (Swansea City).

  11. Post update

    Winston Reid (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  12. Post update

    Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Winston Reid.

  13. Booking

    Joe Cole (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  14. Post update

    Pablo Hernández (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  15. Post update

    Foul by Joe Cole (West Ham United).

  16. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Matthew Jarvis (West Ham United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Stewart Downing with a cross.

  17. Post update

    Offside, Swansea City. Leon Britton tries a through ball, but Michu is caught offside.

  18. Post update

    Hand ball by Joe Cole (West Ham United).

  19. Post update

    Attempt missed. Jonathan De Guzmán (Swansea City) right footed shot from more than 35 yards is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Pablo Hernández.

  20. Post update

    Angel Rangel (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Arsenal97112091122
2Chelsea96211661020
3Liverpool9621178920
4Tottenham961295419
5Southampton9531103718
6Everton95311410418
7Man City951321111016
8Man Utd94231412214
9Swansea93241211111
10Hull9324710-311
11Newcastle93241216-411
12West Brom9243810-210
13Aston Villa9315912-310
14Fulham9315912-310
15West Ham92348809
16Cardiff9234813-59
17Stoke9225610-48
18Norwich9225613-78
19Sunderland9117721-144
20Crystal Palace9108619-133
View full Premier League table

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