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Football
Swansea City
vs Middlesbrough. Sky Bet Championship.
3: 00pm, Saturday 8th March 2025.
Swansea. com Stadium Attendance: Attendance13, 986.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Swansea City and Middlesbrough at the Swansea. com Stadium on Saturday; Ji-Sung Eom earns all three points for managerless Swansea over Michael Carrick's Boro. Saturday 8 March 2025 18: 35, UK Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Swansea dented Middlesbrough's Championship play-off bid as Eom Ji-sung's first goal in English football gave them a 1-0 victory. Eom has often had a frustrating time since joining Swansea from South Korean side Gwangju last summer, but the winger marked his 30th appearance with a classy first-half finish. A third consecutive clean sheet - the first time Swansea have achieved that since April 2024 - ensured a second win in three games under interim boss Alan Sheehan following the departure of Luke Williams. Middlesbrough had travelled with renewed confidence of muscling into the top six after wins over Stoke and Derby. Those victories came on the back of seven defeats in eight games and a slide down the table, but Boro's inability to create much of note in South Wales will alarm manager Michael Carrick as they slipped five points off sixth-placed West Brom. Swansea had taken four points from Sheehan's first two games and were keen to get on the front foot from the start. Ronald was fed at every opportunity and an early cross from the Brazilian was headed goalwards by Eom, deflecting off Anfernee Dijksteel to force goalkeeper Mark Travers into desperate action.
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Jan Vipotnik also tested Travers and forced a defensive block from Neto Borges before Swansea took the lead after 26 minutes. Referee Ruebyn Ricardo played an excellent advantage after Harry Darling was caught by a high foot. The ball broke for Eom to advance and curl a shot from 22 yards beyond Travers and in off a post. Middlesbrough were toiling with former Swan Morgan Whittaker's wayward attempt summing up their miserable first-half efforts. They were also perhaps fortunate to keep 10 men on the field as Dijksteel threw Lewis O'Brien to the ground but was only punished with a yellow card. Travers produced a fine save to keep out Vipotnik's fierce drive and Carrick attempted to shift the balance of the contest by introducing Kelechi Iheanacho and Samuel Illing-Junior at half-time. The move almost paid instant dividends as Iheanacho released Tommy Conway to power just wide of goal. Swansea lost commanding centre-back Darling to injury and his replacement, Hannes Delcroix, soon missed a clear chance to double the lead, prodding Eom's corner wide as the ball dropped to him on the full. Borges' goal-saving block on Eom sparked Middlesbrough into life in the final quarter. Conway's angled attempt flew away off the legs of Swansea goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux and Finn Azaz was only halted by the quick thinking of Ben Cabango. Swansea are now 12 points clear of the relegation zone with 10 games remaining. Swansea's interim boss Alan Sheehan: "It is flattering and I am very appreciative of their affection towards me. "I just love the fact how much the players gave to make them happy. Sometimes you get the praise for it, but these players are giving everything. "I'm delighted to have that chemistry that we've given the fans back-to-back home wins. "Like I said, I'll have a conversation at the end of these two games (before the international break). "And it's not do you want the job? Oh, yes, please. It won't work like that. What is the plan? Where do we want to get to and how do we want to get to it? "If the fans, if the ownership of everything isn't on the same page, then you get a current against you and you can't be successful. " Middlesbrough's Michael Carrick: "We didn't deserve anything out of the game. We didn't play well, it's that simple. "They were a bit sharper, quicker and more aggressive than us - and we couldn't get up to speed in the game. "It wasn't like us and we've got to look at that because it's not really happened. "We'll not move on too quickly because there's things we need to address. We've got to make it a one-off. " The £250, 000 is up for grabs with Super 6, and as always it is completely free to play. Entries by 3pm Saturday.
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