Swansea outclassed Preston as they cruised to a 4-1 win at The Liberty Stadium.
City romp to Liberty win
Swansea outclassed Preston as they cruised to a 4-1 win at The Liberty Stadium.
The Swans, who showed no ill-effects from their FA Cup heroics at Portsmouth on Saturday, made it three wins in a row as they dominated from start to finish.
Jordi Gomez gave Swansea the lead after just two minutes before Jason Scotland doubled the lead on the half-hour.
Second-half strikes from Guillem Bauza and Alan Tate sealed the win before Chris Brown grabbed a late consolation for the visitors.
City went ahead when midfielder Gomez collected a pass from Darren Pratley and fired a shot past Andy Lonergan from 12 yards.
The news did not get any better for the visitors, already without top-scorer Neil Mellor due to injury, when experienced defender Callum Davidson had to be replaced by Eddie Nolan after just six minutes.
Swansea soon had a problem of their own, though, when midfielder Pratley limped off with Bauza taking his place.
Roberto Martinez's team, who have not lost in the Championship since November, were well on top for most of the first quarter of the match without managing to create much in the way of chances.
Lead doubled
The supporters had to wait until the 29th minute for the next goalmouth action - and it led to the Welsh side doubling their advantage.
It was Mark Gower who played a fine through ball to top-scorer Scotland who composed himself before firing low past Lonergan for his 13th league strike of the season.
With Preston's frustration growing, Paul McKenna received the first booking of the match for a foul on the influential Nathan Dyer.
Richard Chaplow finally had a shot for North End in the dying moments but his 25-yarder was off target, while Jon Parkin could only shoot over the bar from inside the box.
After the break, Bauza came close to putting the result beyond doubt in the 58th minute but his close-range shot was well tipped round the post by Lonergan.
It was a mere stay of execution, though, as the same player tapped in a third 11 minutes later. Dyer supplied the killer pass from the right-hand side of the box and Bauza was left with the simplest of tasks.
Swansea continued to push and Angel Rangel forced another good save from Lonergan before Leon Britton shot wide from the edge of the box.
Tate found the bottom corner from 20 yards to complete the rout in the 87th minute before Chris Brown scored a consolation effort in the final minute of normal time.
