Barnsley saw the gap to the play-offs double from three to six points as they suffered their first home defeat in five.
This was Barnsley’s fourth Oakwell defeat in the Championship this season with three of those coming against sides in the current top six (Bournemouth, Brentford, Swansea)
Each of their last three league defeats have come against the current top two (Swansea and Norwich)
Indeed since Valerian Ismael took over at the end of October the Reds have lost seven league matches, five of which have come against the current top six (Brentford, Bournemouth, Swansea, Norwich, Swansea) including each of their last four.
The Reds fell behind in first half stoppage time with Swansea’s first effort on target – the first time they have conceded in first half injury time since the 4-0 home defeat to Bournemouth in December (9 games ago)
It was the 11th goal conceded between the 40th and 50th minutes this season.
Jamal Lowe sealed the points due to a defensive mix-up (despite looking offside) – his seventh goal in seven games which includes two strikes against Barnsley.
He is the first player to score home and away against Barnsley in a season since Charlton’s Lyle Taylor in 2019-2020.
Barnsley have now lost six of their seven matches against the current top six (W1) in comparison they have won all six matches played against the current bottom six.
Swansea completed a league double over Barnsley for the first time since 1977-1978 (they have met in seven league seasons since) with this the first time they have kept clean sheets in both league encounters since 1971-1972 (1-0, 2-0)
Swansea defeated Barnsley 2-0 in both games – the first team to have the same score-line against Barnsley in both league meetings in a season since Wigan last season with both games finishing 0-0.
Swansea have made NO substitutions against Barnsley this season – back in December they became the first opponents since Wycombe in December 2018 to keep the same 11 on the pitch all game. Prior to this you have to go back to Crewe on the 10th October 2015 for the last opponents not to make a change.
Barnsley’s last 11 matches have seen them either score twice or not score at all (Birmingham 2-1, Bournemouth 0-4, Wycombe 2-1, Sheffield Wednesday 2-1, Preston 2-1, Swansea 0-2, Huddersfield 2-1, Rotherham 2-1, Norwich 0-1, Tranmere 2-0, Swansea 0-2)
This was Barnsley’s 10th league defeat of the season, coming in their first match of the second half of the campaign – the longest it has taken to reach double figures for defeats in the Championship since 2016-2017 when it didn’t arrive until the 26th game.
Toby Sibbick came on for his first Championship appearance since the 11th December 2019. It was his 19th Championship appearance overall for Barnsley of which they have only won one – his debut v Fulham in August 2019 – losing 11 of the 18 since.
Barnsley have gone 18 games without a draw (all under Ismael) (W11 L7) - prior to this they had drawn four out of five.
It is their longest run without a stalemate in all competitions since a run of 19 between December 2014 and March 2015 (W11 L8)
Each of Barnsley’s last four defeats have come without scoring (Norwich 0-1, Swansea, 0-2, Bournemouth 0-4, Swansea 0-2) and indeed five of the last six. Since Ismael took charge the only defeat Barnsley have netted in was a 2-1 reverse at Blackburn with the Reds goal coming in the 90th minute.
Barnsley have now gone 12 league games without a clean sheet, their longest league run since a run of 18 between 15th September 2019 – 26th December 2019.
Barnsley are winless in 16 meetings with Swansea (not including penalty shootouts) , drawing seven and losing nine.
They have lost six of the last nine meetings in all competitions.
Swansea are unbeaten in their last seven trips to Oakwell, winning three, however this was their first league victory in four visits.
This was Swansea’s 14th clean sheet in 24 Championship games in 2020-2021 with their tally of 13 goals conceded clearly the best in the division (Watford are next with 17 conceded)
Barnsley had 15 shots in the game, their most at Oakwell since Ismael’s first game in charge against QPR in October.
There were 13 corners in the game the most at Oakwell since the Brentford game in November.
Barnsley Team:
1 Jack Walton
26. Michael Sollbauer
30. Michal Helik
6. Mads Andersen
7. Callum Brittain
27. Alex Mowatt
8. Herbie Kane
4. Callum Styles
29. Victor Adeboyejo
9. Cauley Woodrow
11. Conor Chaplin
Substitutes:
21. Romal Palmer (for Kane 62)
14. Carlton Morris (for Chaplin 63)
20. Toby Sibbick (for Sollbauer 84)
16. Luke Thomas (for Adeboyejo 84)
Unused Substitutes:
19. Patrick Schmidt, 22. Clarke Oduor, 28. Dominik Frieser, 34. Jasper Moon, 40. Brad Collins
Swansea Team:
1 Freddie Woodman
5. Marc Guehi
44. Ben Cabango
26. Kyle Naughton
23. Connor Roberts
6. Jay Fulton
8. Matt Grimes
24. Jake Bidwell
7. Korey Smith
9. Jamal Lowe
10. Andre Ayew
Substitutions:
None
Unused Substitutes:
3. Ryan Manning, 15. Wayne Routledge, 18. Ben Hamer, 20. Liam Cullen, 21. Yan Dhanda, 22. Joel Latibeaudiere, 28. George Byers, 31. Oliver Cooper, 41. Jordan Garrick.
Swansea manager Steve Cooper said:
"A 2-0 win away from home is a brilliant result even though at times it probably wasn't pretty, but that's what it took.
"I don't know what it looked like on television, but the conditions weren't easy, we had to show a different side to us and I thought we did that.
"Consistency is what every team is aiming for and we are no different, you see mad results week in, week out.
"If we are showing signs of consistency I think that is really important and will stand us in good stead."
Sky Bet Championship results
SATURDAY 16TH JANUARY 2021
Middlesbrough (7th) 0-1 Birmingham City (18th)
Hogan 26
Blackburn Rovers (11th) 1-1 Stoke City (8th)
Powell 38
Buckley 76
AFC Bournemouth (3rd) 0-1 Luton Town (12th)
Dewsbury-Hall 67
Bristol City (9th) 2-0 Preston North End (13th)
Diedhiou 8
Vyner 77
Cardiff City (15th) 1-2 Norwich City (1st)
Hanley 3
Cantwell 22
Ralls 65
Derby County (23rd) 0-1 Rotherham United (22nd)
Lindsay 86
Nottingham Forest (19th) 3-1 Millwall (16th)
Ameobi 34
Ameobi 70
Yates 83
Thompson 89
Watford (5th) 2-0 Huddersfield Town (14th)
Cleverley 54
Joao Pedro 64
BARNSLEY (10th) 0-2 Swansea City (2nd)
Cabango 45+1
Lowe 55
Barnsley lie in 10th place in the Sky Bet Championship with 34 points from 24 games. We are 6 points off the Play-Offs, 12 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 16 points off First Place and 15 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 17/1/21
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Twenty Five: Watford v Barnsley, Tuesday 19th January 2021. Kick-Off: 7:45pm
At Oakwell:
FA Cup Fourth Round: Barnsley v Norwich City, Saturday 23rd January 2021. Kick-Off: 3pm