Report | Swansea City 3 Plymouth Argyle 0
A commanding, dominant performance saw Swansea City make it back-to-back home wins and clean sheets with a comprehensive victory over Plymouth Argyle.
The Swans did the damage during an opening half where their energy and intensity proved far too much for the visitors to deal with.
Lewis O’Brien opened the scoring inside four minutes when he headed in his first Swans goal at the end of a flowing move, and Harry Darling doubled the advantage with a header from a set-piece.
Josh Key added the third with a stunning strike 10 minutes before the interval, firing high into the net from distance.
The margin of victory could, and perhaps should, have been greater with the Swans spurning a number of chances.
But the final outcome was never in doubt as Alan Sheehan’s side made it seven points from a possible nine since the international break.
The Swans had shown three changes from the win over Derby as Joe Allen, Jisung Eom and Žan Vipotnik came into the starting line-up.
The visitors made just one alteration as Darko Gyabi replaced Jordan Houghton in midfield.
It was the hosts who made the brighter start, Ronald and Josh Tymon forcing covering clearances from green-shirted defenders with low deliveries into the box inside the opening couple of minutes.
And they broke the deadlock before four minutes had elapsed. Excellent build-up worked space down the right and Ronald’s cross perfectly picked out O’Brien’s run into the box and the midfielder did the rest with an excellent diving header.
Ronald was involved in absolutely everything, and one delightful bit of skill saw him beat Bali Mumba all ends up near the byline, before another thrilling run had the Brazilian threatening to open up the visiting defence once again.
O’Brien had a shot from distance blocked as the Swans continued to ask questions of an overworked Plymouth rearguard.
But it was Lawrence Vigouroux who made the next big defensive stop when he produced a brilliant leaping save to keep out Adam Randell’s free-kick as it headed for the top corner.
From there, Swansea swept up the other end and doubled their lead.
Eom’s free-kick delivery was on the money, and Darling timed his jump to nod the ball beyond Conor Hazard and into the net.
Swansea drove forward once more, Ronald just unable to reach his touch ahead as he raced on to Goncalo Franco’s firm pass.
Franco could not turn in Tymon’s cross and Eom sent a low shot straight into the gloves of Hazard as Swansea relentlessly took the game to Argyle.
They further extended their lead when Key received the ball in acres of space, drove forward and unleashed a dipping curling strike that caught Hazard napping off his line and sailed into the net.
It should have been 4-0 moments later, Swansea again won the ball and countered in numbers but Vipotnik sent his final effort over the bar from just inside the area.
It had been an utterly dominant opening half but the second half began with Vigouroux making an excellent save from Nikola Katic’s close-range header.
But Swansea were quickly back on the front foot, Vipotnik firing over after meeting Tymon’s pinpoint centre and O’Brien seeing an effort from the edge of the box deflect just wide of the target.
Ronald then crossed when he could have shot after lovely interplay between him, Eom and O’Brien with Plymouth being cut open time and time again.
Hazard clawed an Eom header off the line at the second attempt, and the Korean then fired over after a brilliant Franco pass had come through to him.
Substitute Florian Bianchini failed to get a forward pass under control as he threatened to race through on goal, while Hazard denied Darling a secon late on as the Swans made all the running right to the last and secured a handsome victory.
Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux; Josh Key (Kyle Naughton 79), Ben Cabango (captain), Harry Darling, Josh Tymon; Joe Allen (Jay Fulton 63), Gonçalo Franco (Ollie Cooper 76), Lewis O'Brien; Ronald (Florian Bianchini 76), Jisung Eom (Sam Parker 83); Žan Vipotnik.
Unused Substitutes: Jon McLaughlin, Liam Cullen, Cyrus Christie, Hannes Delcroix.
Plymouth Argyle: Conor Hazard, Bali Mumba, Julio Pleguezuelo (Victor Palsson 79), Kornel Szucs (Tymoteusz Puchacz 46), Ryan Hardie (Freddie Issaka 65), Michael Obafemi (Callum Wright 46), Mustapha Bundu, Darko Gyabi, Adam Randell (captain) (Jordan Houghton 46), Nikola Katic, Matthew Sorinola.
Unused Substitutes: Daniel Grimshaw, Nathanael Ogbeta, Joe Edwards, Muhamed Tijani.
Referee: Stephen Martin
Attendance: 14,978