Swans advance after stalemate
Swansea cruised into the Europa League play-off round with a comfortable goalless draw in Malmo.The Welsh club had held a 4-0 lead coming into the second leg of this third qualifying round tie and Michael Laudrup's side were rarely troubled as they advanced with ease at the Swedbank Stadion.Wilfried Bony, the two-goal hero last week, had the ball in the net again this week but was denied by an offside flag, while Michu, Wayne Routledge and Jonathan de Guzman failed to finish good chances.Malmo's best chance came inside 90 seconds, but Pawel Cibicki fired wastefully wide as they exited the tournament tamely.Having survived that early scare, Swansea quickly took control of proceedings.Alejandro Pozuelo freed Michu but the Spaniard's sliding left-footed shot was foiled by the quickly advancing Johan Dahlin.Routledge failed to convert a better opportunity just a few minutes later. Jose Canas' lovely lofted pass sent the winger racing through on goal but he prodded a right-foot effort wide of the far post.Bony showed them how it should be done with a clinical finish from a Routledge through-ball, but the Ivory Coast international was adjudged to have strayed beyond the last defender.In truth Swansea never threatened to reach the level of performance shown in the first leg, but they thought they had the goal their dominance merited late on in a forgettable second half.Pozuelo's chip played in De Guzman and the Dutch international nicked the ball past Dahlin, only for Pontus Jansson to recover and clear off the line.With the tie all but in the bag following the comprehensive win at the Liberty Stadium, Laudrup elected to ring the changes and made seven alterations to his side with the Premier League opener against Manchester United just nine days away.Malmo knew to have any chance of achieving a remarkable turnaround they would need an early goal, and they very nearly got it.The Swansea defence stood off Magnus Eriksson as he drifted infield to find Cibicki, but the striker spurned a glorious chance by firing wide of Gerhard Tremmel's right-hand post.The opportunity served as a reminder that Swansea still had a job to do, and they quickly settled into control, with Pozuelo looking particularly lively with his neat passing and footwork.But Malmo were noticeably more combative in their pressing of the visitors and there had beena series of niggly fouls before Michu picked up a needless booking just after he and Routledge had missed good chances.The forward rashly slid in from behind as he chased Ricardinho across field and ensured he endured howls of derision from the home support for the rest of the evening.Bony then had the ball in the net but was frustrated by the assistant referee's flag, even though replays suggested he may have just been onside.The pattern of the game remained much the same after the break, the Welsh side enjoying control of the game but lacking the accuracy in the final third to engineer a breakthrough.Routledge fired over from a neat Michu header, while a poor pass from Pozuelo ended a promising four-man break.The tempo and bite gradually drained out of the game during the final quarter, with both sides having important league fixtures on the horizon, and even De Guzman's late miss could not take the smile of Swansea's faces at full-time.But Laudrup will be aware a far sterner test lies in wait when his side meet the reigning Premier League champions a week on Saturday.
