Luke Williams furious after his Swansea side fall short at Middlesbrough

Swansea boss Luke Williams was furious with his side’s showing in the first half after they lost the season-opener to Middlesbrough 1-0.

The only goal was scored by Boro’s striker Emmanuel Latte Lath from the penalty spot after Azeem Abdulai fouled the dancing Isaiah Jones inside the box 25 minutes in.

Lath has now scored ten in his last nine league outings and seems to be kicking on from his impressive first campaign on Teesside last season.

Even though the Swans improved in the second half, they did not manage a single shot on target at the Riverside all afternoon.

A clearly frustrated Luke Williams said: “We started wrong, we started really very anxious and with too many unforced errors. The penalty is a reflection of that.

“We were too anxious inside the box, trying to make a tackle when you don’t need to make a tackle. That summed up the first 20 minutes.

“I’m not sure why that was the case. It’s a tough place to come. The crowd were excited and made a lot of noise and it’s a really good team and we struggled to cope with that.

“We gave the opposition so many breaks in the game with loose passes and unnecessary fouls and they jumped all over that. They were good value for the win.”

Michael Carrick seemed to agree, and was delighted to see his striker grab the only goal of the contest.

Boro head coach Carrick said: “It’s pretty obvious to say how important Manu is for us.

“Manu has done a lot for us over a period of time now since he really got fit. For strikers it’s important to score, it’s a good feeling.

“We’ve shared them out pre-season, I’m sure the boys are all looking to chip in and help each other score goals. Certainly for Manu it’s a good start.”