Laudrup delighted with first half

Michael Laudrup praised Swansea’s first-half performance in the 3-1 win over West Brom on Wednesday.

The home side were unstoppable in the opening period, scoring twice in the first 12 minutes through Michu – his ninth goal of the season – and Wayne Routledge as they climbed to eighth and reached the 20-point mark in the Premier League with 14 games played.

Routledge then grabbed his second five minutes before the break before West Brom pulled one back in added time of the first half through Romelu Lukaku.

After seeing his side continue their fine run of form, Laudrup had nothing but praise for his team and, in particular, their first-half performance.

“We were outstanding in the first half,” he said.

“It’s not often that a manager can just sit back and enjoy his team playing.

“We showed what we can do when we are at our best, but it is always difficult to do that for the full 90 minutes.

“The game also showed that little things can change games, because when they scored, their game immediately altered a little.

“But I don’t think West Brom created any great chances in the second half, and it was a pleasure to see my team perform like they did.”

Steve Clarke said Albion paid the price for their slow start.

“We started slowly and got punished, and got punished by the better team. We did not get out of the blocks,” the WBA manager said.

“At 3-0 down you are a long way from getting anything from the game.

“The goal gave us a glimmer of hope but we move on to the next game now.

“Swansea are a really good team and we knew it would be difficult and they proved that.”