Swansea City 3-0 Scunthorpe United
Report from the Liberty Stadium

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The Iron suffered a poor 3-0 defeat at Swansea City on Easter Monday.

Scunthorpe never got going at the Liberty Stadium and struggled as an attacking force, with chances at a premium against Paulo Sousa's dominant Swans.

David Edgar gave the hosts the lead midway through the first half, before Ashley Williams added one just after half-time.

Shefki Kuqi made it three ten minutes before the end as United suffered a defeat which saw the gap between them and the bottom three narrowed to just two points.

It proved a fruitless journey for 164 Iron fans.

United entered the game making four changes from the side beaten 4-2 by Blackpool at Glanford Park on Friday.

Niall Canavan came into defence in place of Kenny Milne, who was rested, while Cliff Byrne returned from suspension to replace Andrew Wright.

Donal McDermott came in for Martyn Woolford on the left wing, while Sam Togwell, who picked up a knock against Blackpool, was replaced by Josh Wright, and wasn't even on the substitutes' bench.

Joe Murphy started in goal, with Byrne, Canavan, Michael Raynes and Marcus Williams forming the defence.

The midfield consisted of Matt Sparrow, Josh Wright, Grant McCann and McDermott, while Paul Hayes and Garry Thompson led the attack.

The substitutes were Josh Lillis, Andrew Wright, Gary Hooper, Jonathan Forte, Woolford, Matt Godden and Jim McNulty.

Scunthorpe wore all blue for the encounter with Paulo Sousa's promotion chasers on a breezy afternoon in South Wales.

The visitors had the first shot of the game in the third minute when Sparrow curled an effort just wide of Dorus De Vrie's right-hand post from 25 yards.

Just moments later though, Murphy was called into action for the first time as he stopped an arrowed drive by Angel Rangel from the right-hand side of the penalty area.

In the sixth minute, Shefki Kuqi hit the crossbar, flicking Mark Gower's cross from the left towards goal with his right foot but seeing it come back into play off the top of Murphy's upright.

Two minutes later, the Swans came close again, as Joe Allen curled over the crossbar - with Murphy getting a touch - from just outside the area.

The home dominance continued as Rangel played Kuqi through, who found himself one on one with Murphy. The ball got caught under his feet however, allowing the Iron defence time to get back before Kuqi forced in a shot which Murphy tipped wide for a corner.

The Iron were trying to attack on the break, and McDermott played in Thompson, whose volleyed shot was deflected wide for a corner.

Swansea had another fantastic chance in the 15th minute though as Edgar's header from Kuqi's flick-on drew a point blank stop from Murphy.

The hosts finally took the lead in the 27th minute when David Cotterill sent in a corner from the left which reached Edgar and he slammed home at the far post.

The goal was a long time coming, and Rangel cut inside from the left to curl wide soon after as they seeked to extend their advantage.

Then Dyer drilled a left-footed strike over the crossbar from the right hand side of the area.

On the break, 34 minutes in, McDermott was played through by Thompson down the right but his shot was blocked and the Swans cleared.

Scunthorpe were trying to get more into the game but their attacks seemed to fail in the final third, and Guillem Bauza sliced an effort just wide from the edge of the area as the hosts almost made it two in the 43rd minute.

Cotterill soon had a free-kick deflected wide by the head of Sparrow and it proved the last chance of the opening period.

The Iron made one change at half-time with McNulty coming on for Williams, who had been struggling with a knock beforehand.

Five minutes into the second-half Swansea doubled their lead, as Williams poked home from close range after Cotterill's corner had only been half-cleared. It would be an uphill task for a Scunthorpe side yet to register a shot on target to get back into the game now.

Swansea celebrate their second goal, scored by Ashley Williams.

The pressure from Swansea kept coming, and Gower curled wide on 53 minutes as Murphy had it well covered.

Shortly after, Scunthorpe had a half-chance as Thompson drove well wide with a speculative effort.

The hosts were playing with a swagger and Kuqi almost flicked into the back of the net from Cotterill's delivery from the right but Murphy was quick to stop it.

In a bid to still get something out of the game, Scunthorpe introduced Hooper into the fray, as he replaced Sparrow.

On 65 minutes Cotterill saw Murphy off his line and tried to beat him with a 35-yard effort but it cleared the crossbar.

Woolford came on a minute later, replacing Hayes as the away side continued to seek fresh inspiration going forward.

But, again, it was the home team raining in the attempts, with Dyer clearly frustrated after seeing his blast from close range tipped out by Murphy.

Kuqi beat the offside trap and had all the time in the world before firing in an effort which Murphy saved, then Dyer's rebound was blocked by Raynes as the Iron tried to keep the score down.

They eventually added a third in the 80th minute as Kuqi latched on to a throughball, capitalising on a Canavan back-header, and slotted the ball beyond Murphy.

Scunthorpe's best chance of the game came five minutes from time through Josh Wright, with a curling free-kick from the left angle of the penalty area which clipped the top of the crossbar.

Josh Wright's late free-kick clips the top of the crossbar.

Towards the end, Gorka Pintado went on a surging run forward from his own half but Murphy easily kept out his tame effort.

There were three minutes of stoppage time at the end but nothing of note happened as the Iron suffered their second straight defeat.

They are next in action on Saturday when they face Preston North End at Deepdale.

Attendance: 14,830 (164 away).