Michael Duff admits Jerry Yates’ ruthless nature in front of goal on his debut against Birmingham typified why Swansea were so keen to sign the striker in the summer.
Blues took the lead on the brink of half-time in the Sky Bet Championship opener between the sides in south Wales as Siriki Dembele fired beyond Brighton loanee Carl Rushworth after a defensive lapse from the hosts.
But Swansea improved in the second half and claimed a point as Yates fired Liam Cullen’s cross beyond John Ruddy in the 75th minute.
It was the former Blackpool forward’s first sight of goal in the match, and Duff was sufficiently impressed by the impact of the £2.5million summer capture.
“He struggled to get into the game a little bit,” said the new Swansea boss.
“But that’s what goalscorers do, if they don’t have a great game but they can walk off with a goal, that’s what he’s judged on.
“Birmingham started probably a bit better than us but I thought we finished the first half really well, so I’m really disappointed to give away a poor goal.
“I think we were pretty dominant in the second half and they were trying to shut up shop.
“We were ultimately a little bit unfortunate. We hit the crossbar, there was a goalmouth scramble that was somehow cleared off the line and we scored a really good goal.
“That’s the frustration. They’ve not had to do a lot to score and we’ve had to do a lot to score our goal. They are things we need to learn.”
John Eustace had no fewer than five debutants in his starting Birmingham line-up.
Dembele was undoubtedly the pick of the bunch as he got his account for Blues up and running with a fine strike late on in the first half.
And Eustace is confident that the former Bournemouth man has the qualities to light up the Championship this season.
“He’s obviously an entertainer,” said the Blues boss.
“He’s a player that’s going to get the fans on their feet and we’re very lucky to have him here. He took his goal very well.
“We’re all about hard work and for a player that exciting to come, he has to buy into that and I thought he did today, I thought he was excellent.”
On his side’s draw, Eustace said: “I thought we were very dominant and played very well. We gave them the goal. Apart from that, I don’t think they had many clear-cut chances. One that hit the bar from a scrap.
“I thought we were excellent today, with and without the ball. We came here to a very difficult place against a good team and gave a really good account of ourselves.
“We were up against a very good footballing team so we had to press them. We’ve worked on our shape throughout the six weeks and it was pleasing to see it come off.”
Swansea were dealt a real blow on the eve of the contest as Olivier Ntcham called Duff to request not to be involved in the fixture.
The Cameroon international has entered the final year of his contract with the Swans but is understood to be pushing for a move to Turkish side Samsunspor.
“Olivier was in the team yesterday (Friday) morning,” Duff said in his post-match press conference.
“He was in the team all week. I got a phone call last night saying he didn’t want to play. It’s disappointing but that’s football.”
Scaloni 'not here to criticise' Argentina after shock Paraguay defeat
Lionel Scaloni says he is "not here to criticise his players" after they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Paraguay in World Cup qualifying.
Lautaro Martinez had given Argentina the lead in the 11th minute – his powerful shot past Roberto Fernandez was initially ruled out for offside before a VAR review overturned it.
However, Paraguay were soon back on level terms. Gustavo Gomez rattled the crossbar with a diving header from a corner, but they regathered possession and pulled level with a sublime overhead kick from Antonio Sanabria 19 minutes in.
Two minutes into the second half, the hosts completed the turnaround through Omar Alderete, who met Diego Gomez's precise free-kick to nod in from close range.
Rodrigo De Paul arguably should have equalised for Argentina with just over 20 minutes to go, but under pressure, sliced over from close range, with the visitors unable to salvage a point.
It was a third defeat in World Cup qualifying for the Albiceleste, who remain top of the standings with 22 points, and Scaloni chose to focus on the positives.
"I'm not here to criticise my players; I'm here to support them," Scaloni said. "We knew it was going to be a tough match. We're here to move forward.
"In the first half, we played a good game, but the first action at the start of the second half made everything more difficult. We have to congratulate the opponent, who defended very well.
"I don't know if they found the antidote [to beating Argentina]. We're hoping to get back on the positive path.
"The team always tries and stands tall. That's what's important: never giving up on the game and always having the desire to compete."
Paraguay are sixth in the table, having extended their unbeaten run to six matches, which also includes a win over Brazil.
They had to dig deep, having only 23.2% possession throughout the game, though they had eight shots to Argentina's nine and scored with both of their efforts on target.
Head coach Gustavo Alfaro is yet to lose a game since taking over Paraguay after the Copa America, and he hailed his team's resilience.
"With the rebelliousness of these players in the face of adversity, I have no doubt that we will get there. When the predisposition is so great, time is secondary," he said.
"They were fantastic points, very difficult. It is difficult to take a point from Argentina."
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
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