Source: Team_Talk
Carroll strike frustrates Swans boss
Swansea had deservedly taken the lead in Saturday's Championship clash at the Liberty Stadium with a superb strike from David Cotterill in the 56th minute and, with a little more luck in front of goal, could have had victory sewn up long before Carroll's late intervention.[LNB]But despite the setback, Sousa was proud of his side's performance in the 1-1 draw.[LNB]"Football sometimes is cruel because, although Newcastle are the best side in the league, we are the best at playing football and we deserved more than we got today," he said.[LNB]"We must be proud of the way we played as they recognised that we have the quality to operate against different opponents.[LNB]"There is no doubt that we are the best footballing side in the Championship and we showed it today.[LNB]"We never had any luck and perhaps Andy Carroll should not even have been on the field after elbowing Gary Monk a few minutes earlier, but I am not angry as the referee obviously saw it differently.[LNB]"We are doing well, but there is still a lot of we can do to improve even further, although our form is now stronger than ever."[LNB]Swansea suffered an early blow when Federico Bassone left the field injured in the seventh minute to be replaced by Angel Rangel.[LNB]With both sides packing midfield, it could have been a stalemate, but the Swansea side were far more adventurous than the Magpies and most of the action took place in the visitors' half.[LNB]Wales international Cotterill was a livewire down each flank, but the Swans squandered a number of clear-cut opportunities, with Ashley Williams heading over from close range and then substitute Gorka Pintado completely mis-kicking with the goal at his mercy.[LNB]That proved decisive as the Magpies became stronger in the closing minutes, although Carroll could well have seen a red card for an elbow on Swansea skipper Monk just four minutes before rescuing a valuable point for his side to take them back to the top of the table.[LNB]Newcastle boss Chris Hughton was relieved his side had fought back to earn a draw.[LNB]"Credit to our players for pushing it at the end as it was either going to be an equaliser for us or Swansea scoring another," he said.[LNB]"We knew they were in very good form here and they play a very brave system that is difficult to play against.[LNB]"They have a lot of possession, but, generally, this means they usually can't get two men into the box and we did have good periods in the game because they were never able to hurt us at the back.[LNB]"The last week has shown us that this is a very tough division and you have to ride with the highs and lows and perhaps nick points when you are up against it.[LNB]"Swansea are definitely a team I expect to be challenging right up there at the end of the season."[LNB][LNB]
