Swansea vs Southampton match report: Saints are victors after Victor Wanyama breaks his duck

Victor Wanyama’s first goal for Southampton saw off 10-man Swansea at the Liberty Stadium and moved Saints up to second in the Premier League.

The Kenyan held off Ki Sung-yueng to fire Graziano Pelle’s pass beyond Lukasz Fabianski with 10 minutes left, continuing Ronald Koeman’s dream start to life in England.

It was tough on Swansea, who like Saints have been a surprise package during the early weeks of the season, as their battling effort to overcome the loss of Wilfried Bony to a second needless booking just before half-time fell short.

Swansea manager Monk had no qualms with the red card, but he admitted Bony’s fouls on Maya Yoshida had cost his side dearly.

He said: “It changed the game. We had been so dominant in that first half.

“I did not see the first foul properly, I would need to have a look to see if it was a yellow, but the second one was.

“If you are on a yellow and make that scissor motion you run the risk of a second.

“Of course you could say Wilfried needed to keep his head better but he does not need me to tell him that, he is distraught in the dressing room.

“But as players you make mistakes - hopefully he will learn from it.”

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Monk did at least get his wish to have Roy Hodgson attend a Swansea home game as the England boss took his seat next to the club’s chairman Huw Jenkins before kick-off.

But the niggly nature of the contest may have left him wondering why he made the 360-mile round trip.

“It would be nice for him to see 90 minutes of what we can do, but I think he saw enough in that 45 minutes to probably be back again,” said Monk.

The home side had started brightly. Nathan Dyer failed to convert a Wayne Routledge cross from close range, while Ryan Bertrand calmly cleared a Bony header off the line.

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Routledge then struck the bar with a clever effort, using the outside of his left foot, after Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dyer had linked up nicely - but that was as good as it got for the Swans once Bony saw red.

Having already picked up one booking for a clumsy challenge on Yoshida, the Ivorian hacked down the Japanese defender from behind five minutes before the break, leaving referee Jon Moss with no choice but to send him on his way as he brandished a second yellow card.

It left the Swans facing a long second half penned back in their own half and Saints spurned several excellent chances before Wanyama, who replaced the injured James Ward-Prowse, finally broke the deadlock.

Pelle, who came into the game with four goals from his previous three appearances, was culpable on three separate occasions. He headed weakly at Fabianski when he really ought to have done better.

Dusan Tadic, who was once again a lively presence on the flank, had a shot which was deflected onto the roof of the net after cutting onto his left, and he forced Fabianski into a scrambling save from a dipping free-kick.

But the misses did not prove costly thanks to Wanyama.

“I told the players just to be patient and the chance would come,” said Koeman.

“The red card changed the game but they were two yellow cards. Maybe the first one is a bit unlucky, but the second one is a yellow.”

Line-ups:

Swansea (4-2-3-1): Fabianski ; Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Ki (Emnes, 86), Shelvey; Dyer (Montero, 57), Sigurdsson, Routledge; Bony.

Southampton (4-1-4-1): Forster; Clyne, Yoshida (Gardos, 46), Fonte, Bertrand; Schneiderlin; Long, Ward-Prowse (Wanyama, 68), Cork (Davis, 63), Tadic; Pelle.

Referee: Jon Moss.

Man of the match: Williams (Swansea)

Match rating: 5/10