Laudrup marvels at Swansea maturity

Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup lauded the attitude of his squad after they overcame a resilient Newcastle United 1-0 on Saturday.

Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup lauded the attitude of his squad after they overcame a resilient Newcastle United 1-0 on Saturday.

Luke Moore broke the deadlock with five minutes remaining, with his neat finish moving Swansea to eighth place in the English Premier League.

Laudrup was particularly pleased with his players’ growing maturity in their first fixture since lifting the Capital One Cup with a 5-0 victory over Bradford City last Sunday.

“I spoke in the week about the fact you sometimes see a negative reaction after a big win, but our reaction was an excellent first half where we showed lots of good touches, movement off the ball, and we created chances,” he said.

“We went in at 0-0 but we deserved so much more.

“After that, Newcastle came into the game and had some very good chances but, like us, they did not score when they were at their best and so that late goal decided the game.

“It shows our maturity; sometimes with smaller teams when they do well and get recognition from the media you see a reaction in the game after. You can forget every game starts 0-0.”

Laudrup was also eager to praise Moore, who scored his first Premier League goal in over a year.

“It is good for Luke to come in and score in a very important game,” he said.

“He has helped us to reach 40 points a week after the cup win and it has made this a really great week.

“He has been out of the side for several weeks but when we have rotated the squad we have tended to do well.”