A mixed display from Jonjo Shelvey saw him score early against former club Liverpool before costly mistakes allowed the visitors to come from behind in South Wales.
Daniel Sturridge and debutant Victor Moses brought Brendan Rodgers’s side into a half time lead before Shelvey set up Michu for a Swansea equaliser after the break.
Team News
Swans manager Michael Laudrup made two changes from the away win at West Bromwich Albion. Jose Canas and Pablo Hernandez dropped out with Leon Britton and Nathan Dyer coming in. New signing Alvaro Vazquez warmed the bench.
Rodgers’s Reds XI meanwhile had three alterations from the victory over Manchester United. Glen Johnson and Daniel Agger missed out through injury whilst Iago Asaps dropped to substitute. Andre Wisdom started alongside Moses and fellow new signing Mamadou Sakho.
Match Report
Hosts Swansea took the lead with the first attack. Shelvey raced through the Liverpool defence, getting the ball back off a desperate block from Martin Skrtel before lifting over Simon Mignolet.
The Reds’ perfect defensive record was left in tatters inside 90 seconds. No sooner had Shelvey savoured scoring against his former club than then he shot the Swans in the foot. Sturridge pounced on a woefully short back-pass to bring Liverpool level on four minutes.
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Super Sturridge
- Daniel Sturridge scored his fourth Premier League goal in as many games during this match.
Tenacity and skill from Moses later helped him wriggle away from two Swansea defenders. He stood up a cross for Sturridge, but this time Michel Vorm kept him out. Rodgers’s Reds were out-passing their hosts, however, and completed the turnaround ten minutes before the break.
Again Shelvey was an unwitting catalyst, cheaply ceding possession with a square ball in midfield. Sturridge seized upon it and allowed Moses to take over. The on-loan winger netted a debut goal with a crisp, low strike into the bottom corner.
Liverpool ended a breathless first half seeing out defensive duties. First Michu shot straight at Mignolet. The Belgian stopper could only parry the next attempt through Nathan Dyer, but Skrtel’s last-ditch block thwarted a lurking Wilfried Bony.
Vorm made a vital save early in the second half as the Swans failed to clear their lines from a free kick. Gerrard’s delivery caused problems and Wisdom poked goalwards, but the Dutch stopper plunged low to his right to keep the defender out.
Philippe Coutinho hobbled off ten minutes after the break as Rodgers brought on Aspas. Laudrup’s Swansea drew level after the hour as Shelvey atoned for his errors by knocking down for an in-the-clear Michu to sweep home.
Swans sub Jonathan de Guzman saw a late free kick tipped behind by the fingertips of Mignolet, so Liverpool preserved a point. Defensive changes certainly contributed to the Merseyside outfit losing their perfect start and defensive record here.
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Match Stats
- Swansea: 1 Michel Vorm, 22 Angel Rangel, 4 Chico Flores, 6 Ashley Williams (c), 33 Ben Davies, 7 Leon Britton, 8 Jonjo Shelvey, 12 Nathan Dyer (20 Jonathan de Guzman 46’), 9 Michu, 15 Wayne Routledge, 10 Wilfried Bony (24 Alejandro Pozuelo 66’) 4-2-3-1
- Goals: Jonjo Shelvey 2’, Michu 64’
- Liverpool: 22 Simon Mignolet, 47 Andre Wisdom (4 Kolo Toure 69’), 37 Martin Skrtel, 17 Mamadou Sakho, 3 Jose Enrique, 8 Steven Gerrard (c), 21 Lucas Leiva, 14 Jordan Henderson, 10 Philippe Coutinho (9 Iago Aspas 55’), 12 Victor Moses (31 Raheem Sterling 81’), 15 Daniel Sturridge 4-2-3-1
- Goals: Daniel Sturridge 4’, Victor Moses 36’