Swansea boss hails players after unbeaten start continues with Derby win

Nation.Cymru staff/agencies

Swansea City boss Vitor Matos praised the maturity and togetherness of his side after they maintained their unbeaten start to the Championship season with a convincing 3-0 victory at Derby County.

Goals from Joseph Opoku, Eom Ji-sung and Ronald gave the Swans back-to-back away wins and seven points from a possible nine – their best start to a league campaign since 2020.

Matos was particularly pleased with the way his players dealt with periods of Derby pressure at Pride Park before taking control of the contest.

“We started the game really well and scored,” he said. “There were moments when Derby pushed us back but we coped with their threat, and after we scored the second goal that gave us the comfort to control the game how we like to.

“Derby made a really strong start to the second half and pushed us back again, but we stayed controlled and calm and then had a number of chances to score.

“We were maybe a bit too anxious to get a third to kill the game off but I’m really pleased with the maturity of the team, how the new players are fitting in and the desire and energy they are showing.

“We have a group of players who are enjoying playing together. We have the same mindset whether we’re playing home or away and we’re happy to have put on a good performance for our fans.

“We’re showing we can compete against teams with different styles of playing, but it’s only one game and we have a difficult run of fixtures coming up.”

Derby thought they had made the perfect start when Ryan Hedges had the ball in the net after just 18 seconds, but the effort was ruled out.

Instead, Swansea struck with their first attack in the second minute.

Eom was allowed to advance through the left channel before pulling the ball back for summer signing Opoku, whose deflected 12-yard effort spun into the bottom corner.

The Ghanaian, who joined Swansea from Belgian side Zulte Waregem, almost doubled the advantage with an acrobatic volley before being forced off through injury midway through the first half.

Swansea continued to threaten and Eom made it 2-0 a minute before the break.

Derby goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom did well to keep out Adam Idah’s header from Melker Widell’s cross, but Eom was on hand to roll the rebound into an empty net from close range.

Derby boss John Eustace responded with three substitutions at half-time and the hosts briefly threatened a comeback, with Lewis Travis and Charlie Taylor both seeing long-range efforts deflected away from goal.

But Swansea soon regained control and could have extended their advantage earlier, with substitute Zan Vipotnik denied by Zetterstrom after good work between Moussa Yeo and Eom.

Zetterstrom also kept out Yeo after goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux’s long clearance had released him through the right channel.

Ronald eventually added Swansea’s third in second-half stoppage time, finding the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area after Stephen Eustaquio’s effort had been blocked.

‘Unacceptable’

While Matos celebrated another encouraging performance, Eustace admitted he understood the frustration of the Derby supporters who booed his side off at the final whistle.

“…the performance was unacceptable and I’m really disappointed,” he said.

“We are lacking in confidence at the moment so conceding that first goal so early on didn’t help, and while we huffed and puffed and had some little moments, to then concede the second just before half-time was a kick in the teeth.”

Eustace also questioned the attitude of some of his players during the second half.

“The only thing that disappointed me in the second half was that the body language of some players wasn’t great,” he said.

“But I’ll take full responsibility for the performance and result. I pick the team, coach the players and give the tactics out.”

The result leaves Derby without a win from their opening three Championship matches, while Swansea have taken seven points from nine and are yet to taste defeat under Matos this season.

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