Swansea City keeper Andy Fisher produces a howler to gift Oxford United a 1-0 win as boss Michael Duff suffers his first pre-season loss.
Marcus Browne made the most of a blunder from the Championship outfit, with his early strike proving the difference on Friday night.
He struck home after six minutes, but visiting goalkeeper Andy Fisher really should have kept it out, in what would have been a simple stop.
Swansea are looking good ahead of the new season – here’s the goal they conceded to Oxford 🔥🔥
pic.twitter.com/RgJ6ydJWLp— The72 – We Love the #EFL (@_The72) July 22, 2023
A loose pass allowed the hosts to make their way forward, with Ruben Rodrigues getting on it and teeing up Browne for a low shot with the ball trickling under Andy Fisher and into the back on the net. This was the first goal the Swans had conceded in pre-season.
Browne also threatened again, smashing his effort high and wide after a driving run from halfway.
Fisher also managed to deny Mark Harris after the forward cut in from the left to get away a shot the Swansea keeper had to turn around his near post.
The visitors went on the attack, only to see Fulton’s final cross cut out by Beadle, who was also forced to a low save from Piroe’s effort after Kyle Naughton and Olivier Ntcham combined to find the Dutchman in space just inside the area.
Gatlin O’Donkor saw his scuffed effort go wide after making his way into the area from the right, before Fisher stopped Harry Darling turning a Fin Stevens cross into his own net.
Piroe had a good chance to level with seven minutes to go but sent Azeem Abdulai’s cross wide of the target.
But despite both sides having chances, the scoreline remained the same.
Oxford United: James Beadle, Sam Long, Ciaran Brown, Jordan Thorniley, Elliott Moore (captain), Josh McEachran (Oisin Smith 64), Cameron Brannagan, Mark Harris (Fin Stevens 64), Marcus Browne (Gatlin O’Donkor 64), Tyler Goodrham (Yanic Wildschut 77), Ruben Rodrigues (Trialist 77).
Unused Substitutes: Eddie Brearey, James Golding.
Swansea City: Andy Fisher, Josh Key (Azeem Abdulai 77), Jay Fulton, Ben Cabango (Brandon Cooper 68), Harry Darling, Matt Grimes (captain), Jerry Yates (Liam Cullen 64), Olivier Ntcham (Jamie Paterson 82), Joel Piroe, Nathan Wood, Kyle Naughton.
Unused Substitutes: Ben Hughes, Ollie Cooper, Ben Lloyd, Joe Thomas, Josh Thomas, Joel Cotterill, Filip Lissah.
Referee: Dean Whitestone
Attendance: 3,206
Away fans: 615
Speaking after the 1-0 win against Swansea, James Beadle, on loan from Brighton, said: “This is a real confidence boost for us as players, knowing that we want to achieve is realistic.
“We want to go high up the league and really do well, and I think that showed tonight against a really good opposition.
“It’s what you want to do as a goalie, keep clean sheets and win games, and it’s the perfect start really.
“I had a pretty comfortable save but that’s what I’m here to do – make saves and that’s what I enjoy doing.
“I’m quite a relaxed person on the pitch and I enjoy playing, there’s no point being nervous or tense – just play football and have fun.”
Discussing the style of play that head coach Liam Manning is looking to implement, Beadle added, via Oxford Mail: “The lads are really good, the gaffer’s really good and the coaches have been really good, so I’ve had no problems so far and long may that continue.
“The way we want to play this season, playing out from the back, relationships are key and I thought tonight we were excellent playing out from the back, especially in the first half.
“Nowadays, if you want to play at the top level, you’ve got to be able to do both and that’s what I’m working on at the moment.
“The way we play at Brighton is very similar to the way the gaffer wants to play so it’s been a good transition here.
“The standards here are very good but the standards there are a different level, but I’ve been really impressed since I came in – I just cant wait to get started in the league now and play some games properly.
“The way we want to play, there’ll be things that go wrong but if you’re making mistakes doing the right thing, then hold your hands up.
“Once things happen, you can’t change it and you’ve just got to move on to the next thing and approach that in the same way as before.”
Swansea head coach Michael Duff said:
“There is still, obviously, work that needs to be done,” he said.
“The three chances we gave them during the first half were down to us giving the ball away in poor areas of the pitch.
“The chance they had in the second half was down to us taking a risky throw-in in our own third, so we need to eradicate that and the goal we conceded was down to an error from us.
“I thought they took the information on much better in the second half, in terms of the aggressiveness of our press.
“We spent most of the second half in their half, we did not allow them to play like we did at times in the first half.
“It’s down to learning. We are trying to implement new things. We can be a bit cleaner with the ball, I thought we were sloppy at times in possession, which I hope is not going to be like us as the one thing we can do is pass the ball.
“But this is about minutes, and being asked some questions we had not faced so far in pre-season. That’s good because it is something to work on.”
Here’s what fans are saying as the Swansea keeper produces a howler to gift Oxford a 1-0 win as Michael Duff suffers his first pre-season loss as new boss.
@buckney_tony: Can’t even say the sun was in his / their eyes
@joelpomeroy3: Pappadom hands fisher 🫣
@Simon09990288: Oh dear…….. No excuses. No blaming the conditions. An absolute howler from Fish
@04mike91: When you’ve got Andy Fisher in goals, expect nothing less. Woeful.
@KieranCraig2016: Awful from Fisher, but that shouldn’t have been near him in the first place. Awful all round goal, get it out the system
@thegmugroup: What on earth were the Swansea defence doing?
@LJJones12: Obviously the keep has had a shocker but what the fuck is that build up play 😂😂
@MacauleyGreenf2: Thank fuck duffs gone 😅😅
@LeTenTwelve: The most Swansea goal I’ve ever seen conceded. Will never challenge for play offs with Fisher Price in goal 😭
@MightBeBray: That is horrible
@Nialljarvisx: jesus fucking christ 🤣🤣
@tamararoberts__: Lordy Lord. It gets worse every time I watch
@LloydEvs64myc: God he’s bloody awful
@carmarthenjack9: Same old Swansea with problems at the back, needs addressing before we start the season
@JacksSwansea: Wtf fisher
@JackD_88?: Swansea haven’t changed I see 😂
@scmw12: How I see the goal is apart from the obvious howler from Fisher this is really poor from Grimes. As a captain &player with much higher technical ability than Ben he should be taking responsibility to get us out from there. Instead threw him under the bus with a basic pass imo
@BodeyWanKenobi: Wow 😂 what a terrible goal to concede
@Scfc_Jonesey: Terrible from Fisher but why is he put in that position in the first place. Shocking from everyone involved.
@FyEnwIYwJeremy: Not just fisher at fault there either. Poor all round
@Aaronhughes_64: Oh it is somehow worse than I pictured
@Pmorse98: Alright fisher has dropped an absolute moon howler but what about that pair at the back playing hot potato ONE TOUCH AND UP THE PIPE LIKE
@Jonblackmore71: Not sure what to say about this 😂
@welsh_mag: Yikes that’s bad
— 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱 (@SfcAlex__) July 22, 2023
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