Newcastle 1-2 Swansea

Swansea City produced an impressive
performance to triumph 2-1 at St
James' Park and move above Newcastle
United in the Premier League table.
Michu broke the deadlock for the
Swans in the 58th minute with a
header from Pablo Hernandez's cross
as Tim Krul was punished for a poor
clearance.
Jonathan de Guzman turned home a
second from close range three
minutes from time after Krul could only
parry Danny Graham's shot.
Newcastle pulled a goal back thanks to
Demba Ba's header just before the
final whistle but there was not enough
time to find an equaliser.
It had been a frustrating afternoon for
the Magpies even before kick-off, with
Papiss Cisse not allowed to play after
Senegal invoked FIFA's five-day rule
after he missed an international
appearance in midweek.
It was nevertheless an exciting and
open game from the very start as
Newcastle desperately tried to put on a
show for their supporters and
Swansea threatened on the counter-
attack, with both goalkeepers called
into action in the first half.
Krul produced a fine stop to keep out
Michu's shot from distance after a
quarter of an hour, while he then did
well to stand up tall and narrow the
angle on Itay Shechter after a hopeful
long ball had caught out Mike
Williamson.
At the other end, Hatem Ben Arfa was
by far the greatest threat and, after
striking one effort into the side-netting
from a tight angle, he made Gerhard
Tremmel dive to his right to pull off an
acrobatic save.
Newcastle stepped up the pressure at
the start of the second half as Shola
Ameobi came on to replace Shane
Ferguson and Sammy Ameobi got into
the game more down the left, but Ba
squandered a couple of good
opportunities and the hosts were
made to pay when Michu opened the
scoring.
Ba then headed a 64th-minute Cheick
Tiote cross towards goal, but without
the power to trouble Tremmel, and the
keeper then got a good block on Shola
Ameobi's cross after a dazzling run
from deep by Ben Arfa.
The Magpies were demonstrating little
composure in front of goal, and were
grateful to see Michu
uncharacteristically do the same to
miscue Hernandez's 76th-minute cross
wide.
But the sting in the tail arrived three
minutes from time when Krul could
only parry substitute Graham's shot
and De Guzman smashed home the
rebound from a tight angle, making
Ba's late header after substitute Sylvain
Marveaux had struck the bar practically
irrelevant.