Vitor Matos hails Swansea for halting run of defeats with victory over Oxford

New Swansea boss Vitor Matos hailed his side’s effort for finally breaking a cycle of five-successive defeats as they beat Oxford 2-0 in the Championship at the Swansea.Com Stadium.

It was third time lucky for the Portuguese head coach, who had presided over defeats to Derby and West Brom in his first two matches.

But a first set-piece goal of the season in the 41st minute from Marko Stamenic and then a worldie from outside the box by Josh Tymon – on the stroke of half-time – changed their fortunes.

“It was important for us to break the cycle after five defeats in a row and a clean sheet was another step forward for us,” said a delighted Matos.

“The atmosphere was amazing and the fans really go behind the team. That’s what I want to see more of.

“We need points and we need to take more steps forward. We have to improve in a few areas and we need to build more consistency in our game.”

Matos was also delighted with the performance of left back Tymon, who made the first goal and scored the second – his first of the season.

“It was a brilliant goal and I hope he can do it again. The goal was massive for us, but his performance was as well,” said Matos.

“He supported the attack from left-back and gave the team balance, but his goal was the pinnacle of his performance.”

Swansea dominated possession in the first half and made the most of the stream of fouls given away by the visitors. The count at the end of the first half alone was 9-2 in the hosts’ favour.

Inconsistency

“It was hugely frustrating because I expected us to show a bit more on the back of the win we had against Ipswich,” admitted Oxford boss Gary Rowett.

“We started well for the first 10-15 minutes but then allowed Swansea to dictate. We gave away too many silly fouls.

“They scored a set-piece goal and then a wonder goal that gave them a nice cushion at the end of the first half. The inconsistency we are showing is the most frustrating thing.

“The goal by Tymon was good enough to grace any game in the world. I can’t sit here and say we deserved to win and it must have been frustrating for the fans who travelled to watch us in big numbers.

“The second half was a bit better without us showing any real threat on their goal.”