Swansea City 2-2 Liverpool: 5 Talking Points

Shelvey's Shocker, Swansea's Striker Conundrum, Moses Makes His Mark And More
Swansea City's Jonjo Shelvey celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game
Swansea City's Jonjo Shelvey celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game
PA

Four goals, a multiple personality disorder of a performance and good goalkeeping made for an entertaining draw between Swansea City and Liverpool as football emerged the winner after a woeful weekend of Premier League games.

Here are five talking points...

A GOOD GAME OF FOOTBALL

The barometer of a good game this season now is whether Roy Hodgson would abhor spectacles which feature, more or less, three goals or more. There were four at the Liberty Stadium thanks to a tragicomic performance from Jekyll (Jon) and Hyde (Jo) Shelvey, with two of the strikes coming inside four minutes. Both goalkeepers performed well without ruining viewers' fun and to richen the feast it all came under the floodlights.

MUTED CELEBRATIONS ARE LETHAL

It was no wonder Shelvey assisted Daniel Sturridge after the most apologetic of muted celebrations. Perhaps shocked by his ability to score a Premier League goal, let alone against his former club, his blind back-pass which Sturridge gobbled up was an apt impersonation of his former skipper. Shelvey's pass was even cut from Brendan Rodgers' play-keep-ball-in-your-own-third cloth of passing.

The lesson to be learned is not celebrating can be extremely hazardous. Shelvey, a West Ham supporter born in Romford, spent just over three years at Liverpool, who no longer pay his wages, unlike Swansea, who suffered thanks to his sick-bag sentimentalism. At least Mr Hyde went into hiding for the second 45.

SAKHO S**T OR A HIT?

Frenchman Mamadou Sakho had an ambivalent and eventful Liverpool debut. He began disastrously when he inadvertently teed up Shelvey's opener and was badly exposed for Michu's equaliser, but his disorientation was as much owed to the incompetent Martin Skrtel's presence, as Liverpool missed Daniel Agger's authority.

Sakho gets to grips with Bony

There were glimpses of class. Despite his bruising frame, Sakho is a silky stopper and one of his elaborate passes visibly irked the affronted Michu. He will benefit from complementing Agger in the future.

MICHU HAMPERED BY BONY

It was nearing four Premier League starts without a goal for Michu until Simon Mignolet clattered into Wilfried Bony and suddenly the Spaniard sparkled. More of a concern for Michael Laudrup is the lack of telepathy between the Swansea strikers.

Michu thrived in Bony's absence

Michu was animated and exasperated with his teammates' pedestrian play in the first-half and just doesn't appear to relish playing off Bony, even though it is a role suited to his technical adroitness. His goal came courtesy of Bony dropping off as he darted ahead of him in an effective reversal of roles.

Laudrup, unconcerned with the £12 million Bony fee, reminded Swansea's most expensive signing their bargain signing remains the team's talisman when he withdrew the Ivory Coast striker shortly after Michu's leveller.

MOSES NAILS DOWN STARTING BERTH

With Luis Suárez's return nine days away and the transfer window shut Rodgers deployed a system which is likely to be a familiar sight in the coming months. Steven Gerrard and Lucas Leiva will occupy the two holding berths, Suárez will dovetail with Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho should be the creative midfielder, and Victor Moses has occupied the previous vacancy on the wing.

Moses excelled on his debut

A naturally gifted attacker, Moses' issue, as is the case with most wingers, is consistency. There were hints of it in Chelsea blue last season and further evidence came courtesy of his clinical finish on Monday night. What was pleasing was not just the Nigerian's finish but how he used Sturridge as a decoy, when yesteryear he would have run down the same blind alley.

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