Wednesday 3 December 2014 14:55, UK
Swansea City manager Garry Monk says his side fully deserved their three points in the 2-0 win over QPR - but admitted he did not think they would ever beat an inspired Robert Green.
Swansea were made to sweat for 78 minutes with Green in impenetrable form – clawing shots away from Wilfried Bony and, most notably, Gylfi Sigurdsson’s free-kick which required the use of goal-line technology to confirm whether it had crossed the line.
Ki Sueng-yeung’s tight-angled strike finally broke Green’s resolve to hand the hosts the advantage and with their defences finally breached, Wayne Routledge doubled the hosts' lead just five minutes later.
The result lifted the Swans above Arsenal into sixth in the Premier League and condemned Harry Redknapp’s side to their seventh consecutive away defeat in the Premier League.
And while acknowledging the impressive performance put in by Green, Monk remained adamant that the creation of numerous goalscoring opportunities by the home team meant that only one side would ultimately prevail at the Liberty Stadium.
“Green made some fantastic saves tonight and full credit to him - I thought some of them were unbelievable,” Monk told Sky Sports.
“It probably takes a keeper all season to make as many saves like that and he did it all in one night. I thought he did very well and he was unlucky to be on the losing side tonight.
“But credit to my players - I said it at half-time that we had to keep on playing how we were playing. We created so many chances and fantastic opportunities, and that we would [eventually] take them and it proved right in the end.
“As the game went on I thought they may have had a little bit more belief but we controlled the game very well against a good QPR side that came here on the back of good form. We knew how important it was for us to control the game and to the get the early goal - which we couldn’t get due to the keeper’s fantastic saves.
“But we kept believing, kept pushing and then the second one came and that’s really secured the game for us.”
Green’s performance prevented in-form striker Bony from further extending his record as the league’s leading goalscorer this calendar year.
But Monk was quick to explain that the philosophy employed at the Liberty Stadium ensures the club are never over reliant on a single player to find the back of the net, as Tuesday’s victory illustrated.
“That’s what we do - we encourage that from all players. It’s not just about one player scoring goals, it’s about the whole team contributing,” Monk added.
“We’ve done that very well so far this season and the players understand what I’m asking of them. A number of players were involved in the goals tonight and the chances we created. It was pleasing to see two goals and a clean sheet - it was thoroughly deserved.”
