SWANS: Unbeaten start ends as ruthless Southampton knock Swansea off the top

Southampton ended Swansea City’s unbeaten start to the Championship season as goals from Finn Azaz, Cyle Larin and Léo Scienza earned a comfortable 3-1 win at St Mary’s.

The Swans arrived on the south coast with the best defensive record in the English Football League, one goal conceded in five games and four clean sheets from their opening five. It survived barely half an hour.

Vitor Matos had warned just hours earlier that the record “can change quite quickly”. His rearguard was troubled from the outset, Azaz blazing wastefully over before Swansea were breached for the first time in 449 minutes of league football.

The goal was soft when it came. Swansea were undone from a Ryan Manning throw-in, Flynn Downes feeding Azaz to burst into the box and find the far corner with his left foot.

Larin touched in the second from Bree’s cross, the Canada international’s fifth goal in six league games this season putting Tonda Eckert’s side in command before the break.

Not for the first time this season, Swansea had enjoyed their share of possession but failed to threaten the Southampton goal, and Downes hooked over as the hosts chased a third before half-time.

Vipotnik’s penalty on a milestone night

There was more attacking intent from the visitors after the restart, and hope of a comeback arrived when Zan Vipotnik was pulled back in the box by Saints defender James Bree.

The Slovenian slotted the spot-kick coolly for his first goal of the campaign, marking his 100th appearance for the club and ending Swansea’s four-visit scoring drought at St Mary’s in the process.

Last season’s Championship top scorer has played a peripheral role from the bench so far this term, and his landmark strike briefly changed the mood.

But it was the hosts who kept carving the better openings, Lawrence Vigouroux producing a string of neat saves to keep his side in the contest, an eye-catching stop from Scienza the pick of them.

The killer third came on the counter as the early-season leaders threw men forward. Japanese midfielder Kuryu Matsuki fed Scienza, and the Brazilian would not be denied twice, stroking home his third goal of the campaign from 16 yards.

Second place, and a quick chance to respond

A first defeat of the season drops Swansea to second in the table, while Southampton, still carrying a six-point deduction from the spying controversy, climb to 12th.

The chance to win their opening three away league games for the first time in the club’s history went with it, at a ground where no Championship side has taken more home points than Southampton’s 44 since Eckert’s first home game in charge last November.

Burnley, second from bottom, visit the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday (3pm kick-off), the first opportunity to make the wobble a one-off.

Swansea will be without Eom Ji-sung for that one, the winger joining up with South Korea for the Asian Cup straight after the game at St Mary’s. He will also miss the trip to Lincoln City.

Southampton XI

Daniel Peretz; James Bree, Kevin Schlotterbeck, Nathan Wood, Ryan Manning; Flynn Downes (c), James Ward-Prowse (Cameron Bragg 90); Tom Fellows (Kuryu Matsuki 76), Finn Azaz, Léo Scienza (Samuel Edozie 85); Cyle Larin (Divin Mubamba 85).

Swansea City XI

Lawrence Vigouroux; Filip Lissah, Ben Cabango (c), Stephen Welsh, Josh Tymon; Jay Fulton (Melker Widell 63), Marko Stamenic, Elijah Just (Stephen Eustáquio 63); Moussa Yeo (Eom Ji-sung 78), Joseph Opoku (Ronald 46), Zan Vipotnik (Adam Idah 70).