Swansea City vs Blackpool. Sky Bet Championship.
Swansea.com StadiumAttendance16,886.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Swansea and Blackpool at the Swansea.com Stadium as Keshi Anderson earned a late point for the Tangerines after Joel Piroe had put the Swans ahead
Saturday 20 November 2021 19:09, UK
Keshi Anderson's late equaliser secured Blackpool a 1-1 Championship draw against Swansea in south Wales.
This was an evenly-contested match for the most part with a first-half goal from Joel Piroe putting Swansea ahead, but a late effort from Anderson meant the Welsh club had to settle for a draw.
Swansea had the first real chance of the game when Ethan Laird put Olivier Ntcham straight through on goal but the striker's shot was comfortably dealt with by Daniel Grimshaw.
Blackpool knocked Swansea out of their stride in the opening stages of the first half with their slick passing game causing the hosts a lot of problems, but Russell Martin's side soon recovered.
The hosts pleaded with referee Keith Stroud for a penalty when Laird was brought down in the box by Reece James, but it was waved away by the officials.
Blackpool had a lot of the ball but lacked a cutting edge in the final third, but their best chance of the first half came when Jerry Yates found himself one-on-one with Ben Hamer who saved a low shot from the in-form striker.
But Swansea continued to apply pressure on Blackpool, and they eventually took the lead in the 35th minute.
With Swansea passing the ball so fluidly Piroe was found in space and the striker fired a 25-yard volley into the back of net for his 11th goal of the season.
Swansea were now in the ascendancy as they controlled possession for the remainder of the first half and they turned around with a 1-0 advantage.
Swansea began the second half in the same manner they finished the first as they proceeded to apply a lot of pressure on the Blackpool penalty box. The Welsh club had another penalty plea turned down when Ntcham was barged off the ball.
Blackpool's Dujon Sterling was shown the first yellow card of the game in the 54th minute after tugging the shirt of Flynn Downes. The Seasiders began to enjoy some possession and looked a bit more threatening with a shot from Yates just wide of the post.
Blackpool had more of the ball in the closing stages of this match as they tried to find a way through the Swansea defence. Jordan Gabriel found himself through on goal with eight minutes remaining, but Hamer just about cleared his lines.
But Blackpool finally broke Swansea's resistance in the 86th minute when a shot from Anderson from just inside the box found the back of the net, after the home side had failed to clear their lines.
Blackpool pushed hard for a winner late on and came close when Anderson's shot was cleared off the line by Ryan Manning.
Swansea's Russell Martin: ""We should have had two penalties which would have changed the game but I don't want to come out here and blame the referee because we conceded a really poor goal and that's on us not him. I don't know what Ethan needs to do to get a penalty. It was the same against Bournemouth. We've got a list and compilation of videos where we should have had penalties. We'll send another one off today because it can't keep happening.
"It was frustrating and a disappointing second half. I feel like we've lost the game. We have to be better because the game swung completely the other way in the second half and that shouldn't happen. Having watched them back they were both penalties. Ethan when he is at full flight is very difficult to stop. It was clear and obvious really."
Blackpool's Neil Critchley: "You know what you are going to face when you come to Swansea. An outstanding strike was the difference at half time and I thought in the second half we showed outstanding courage and bravery to take the game to Swansea. At times we were on top with the ball and we were making them do what they don't want to do which is work and defend.
"We weren't getting to the goal as much as I would have wanted but whilst it's 1-0 there's always a chance of a set-piece goal like we got or a moment of brilliance. Our set-piece got us back into the game and I think over the course of 95 minutes we were deserved of a point."
