A ruthless Swansea City punished a passive Plymouth Argyle in a blistering first half at the Swansea.com Stadium, claiming a comfortable 3-0 win that leaves the visitors staring down the barrel of relegation.
Alan Sheehan’s men tore through Argyle with a clinical display, scoring all three goals in the opening 35 minutes. In contrast, Plymouth barely laid a glove on their opponents and left South Wales without a fight or a point.
Argyle’s away day woes continue
Plymouth have struggled on the road all season and this match followed the same pattern, with only eight away goals scored in the league and just one win to their name. That record never looked like improving as the hosts took early control.
Only four minutes had elapsed when Ronald’s pinpoint cross from the right found Lewis O’Brien, who threw himself at the ball and sent a diving header beyond Conor Hazard for Swansea’s opener. The midfielder’s first goal since joining on loan set the tone for a dominant performance.
Plymouth’s defence, the worst statistically in the top four divisions, was carved open again soon after. Eom Ji-Sung’s delivery from a free-kick allowed Harry Darling to nod in with ease at the far post as the visitors failed to mark tightly.
It went from bad to worse when right-back Josh Key unleashed a spectacular curling effort from long range that left Hazard rooted. The strike, dipping under the bar, confirmed Swansea’s superiority and effectively ended the contest before the break.
Argyle’s only response came from set-pieces. Adam Randell’s first-half free-kick was pushed away by Lawrence Vigouroux, while substitute Jordan Houghton’s header after the restart was also dealt with comfortably. Those chances aside, Swansea were rarely troubled.
Muslic attempted to reshape things at the interval with three changes, but the outcome remained inevitable. The Swans continued to generate opportunities, with Vipotnik and Eom both guilty of wasting clear chances to make it four or five.
While Swansea celebrated moving nine points above the drop, Plymouth’s problems deepened. Still five points adrift of safety and with the worst defensive record in the EFL, the pressure is now firmly on Muslic to find solutions — and quickly.
“Every time we have an opportunity to move closer and take a big step, we can’t… Every opponent is capable of realising the moment and every time we have the chance to do this we simply give it away,” Plymouth head coach Miron Muslic told BBC Radio Devon.
Site opinion
This was a match that exposed all of Plymouth’s flaws — lack of intensity, defensive vulnerability, and an inability to turn positive performances into momentum. Muslic’s comments reflect the deep-rooted inconsistency in this squad. With five games left, they’ll need a near-perfect run to stay up. As for Swansea, Sheehan continues to build his case for a permanent role, and this latest win was another example of a team playing with purpose under his guidance.
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