Report | Swansea City 0 Stoke City 0
Swansea City played out a goalless draw against their Stoke City counterparts at the Swansea.com Stadium in their last Championship fixture before international break.
Albiet, Luke Williams' side extended their unbeaten run on home turf in the league
And the hosts had the better of the chances throughout 90 minutes as Jisung Eom, Ronald and Žan Vipotnik all came closest.
Gonçalo Franco and Vipotnik returned to the starting XI whilst Liam Cullen was named on the bench following illness, after missing the Swan' outings against Bristol City and Sheffield United.
Swansea opened with strong periods of possession. An early pressing move saw Viktor Johansson keep out a Ronald effort before the skipper scuffed the ball wide from the resulting corner.
Stoke City had penalty appeals waved away when 17-year-old Welsh International Lewis Koumas and Josh Tymon came together.
Tymon looked to pick out Franco in the box, the cross is cleared out for a corner. Darling rose highest to direct his header into the top corner forcing Johansson to palm away.
A lovely counter-attack from the hosts followed when Josh Key slipped in Ronald down the right. The Brazilian’s cross was eventually too high to find a white shirt in the six-yard box.
Eom's inviting ball in was intercepted by a sliding tackle from Michael Rose and out for a Swans corner. The delivery fell to Harry Darling and his chipped shot was well saved by Johansson from close-range.
Lawrence Vigouroux was forced into action after a quiet spell when Eric Bocat’s powerful shot was kept out by the Chilean keeper’s low save.
Eom continued to deliver threatening crosses into the penalty area, his ball fell to Ronald with the 22-year-old flashing his effort agonizingly wide.
Another huge chance fell short for the Swans when Ronald, Vipotnik and Eom all saw shots blocked after a short scramble in the box. The rebound fell to the Skipper who again had his strike cleared.
Down the other end, a Potters’ free-kick dropped to Tom Cannon, who attempted an overhead kick goalward, but he couldn’t direct it on target.
On the cusp of half-time, Eom surged forward in space to fire a well-taken strike only for the crossbar to deny him. Vipotnik’s attempt to head home the follow-up went well over.
The Swans came out unchanged after the restart, and immediately tested Stoke's defence as Vipotnik's diving header was superbly saved by Johansson after the Slovenian was left unmarked on the edge of the area.
The Potters responded with Cannon getting away from his man down the middle of the park, Vigouroux was equal to his solo effort with yet another fine block with his legs.
Swansea continued to carve out promising chances, Grimes' free-kick in was met by Darling, only for the ball to be headed behind.
Nearing the full-time whistle, Ben Cabango made a tremendous off-the-line clearance as Cannon's attempt was seemingly on it's way in to the net.
The fourth official indicated an additional nine minutes of extra time, and the visitors were enjoying a spell on top when Million Manhoef's gliding run finished with his curling effort over the bar, after another crucial interception from Cabango.
It turned into a nervous encounter in the closing stages with Stoke piling on the pressure, but neither side capitalised on their chances.
Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux, Josh Key, Ben Cabango, Harry Darling, Matt Grimes (captain), Zan Vipotnik (Liam Cullen 65), Jisung Eom (Florian Bianchini 77), Josh Tymon, Goncalo Franco (Jay Fulton 83), Ollie Cooper (Myles Peart-Harris 77), Ronald (Azeem Abdulai 77).
Substitutes: Jon McLaughlin, Joe Allen, Kyle Naughton, Nelson Abbey.
Stoke City: Viktor Johansson, Michael Rose, Wouter Burger (Million Manhoef 54), Tom Cannon, Joon-Ho Bae (Andre Vidigal 65), Lewis Koumas (Jordan Thompson 54), Jordan Thompson, Ben Wilmot, Eric Bocat, Sam Gallagher (Emre Tezgel 84), Ben Gibson (captain), Andy Moran.
Substitutes: Jack Bonham, Enda Stevens, Tatsuki Seko, Junior Tchamadeu, Ashley Phillips.