Laudrup savours 'great week'

13 January 2013 07:17

Swansea manager Michael Laudrup reflected on a "great week" after his hard-working side continued their recent momentum with a creditable goalless draw at Everton.

The Swans followed up their stunning Capital One Cup semi-final first-leg win over Chelsea - which in turn came after holding Arsenal in the FA Cup - by frustrating the Toffees in a goalless clash at Goodison Park. It extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to seven matches and put them in good heart for their replay against the Gunners on Wednesday.

Laudrup said: "It has been a little bit more than a good week - it has been a great week. Three very difficult games, different games, and I think three great performances. To come here and play Everton in such a difficult away game, after playing in midweek against Chelsea, and to get a point is a great result."

He added: "Once more, it was a great performance, although maybe getting the points in a different way that we are used to. For two games now, Wednesday and today, we didn't have the ball as much as we are used to and still we performed so well. To come out of here with two clean sheets says a lot about the team and the team spirit we have."

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque was in the crowd to run the rule over the four Spaniards in the Swans side. In-form striker Michu had a quiet game but still went the closest to scoring with a fine chip which Tim Howard tipped on to the bar. The hosts dominated the second period but another Spanish player, defender Chico Flores, impressed in partnership with Ashley Williams.

Laudrup said: "If Del Bosque had called me before, I could have told him it wasn't the best game to see Michu. But in Spain they are watching the Premier League and Del Bosque knows exactly what Michu has done until now, so I think it was just a visit. I think he has already made up his mind about Michu.

"We say often about Michu - he gets one chance and he nearly scores a goal again. Like the other day - one-and-a-half, two chances and he scores. That is really class."

Everton manager David Moyes was frustrated his side were unable to break Swansea's resilience. The result meant they missed the chance to gain ground on Tottenham in the battle for a top-four spot while Chelsea pulled further away.

Moyes said: "We are a bit frustrated but Swansea did a really good job in midweek on Chelsea, not dissimilar (to this).

"We needed to play a bit better, pass it a bit quicker and be a little bit cleverer in the final third. We had three or four good opportunities, but just not perfect (ones). I couldn't turn around and say I thought anyone missed a real sitter. I thought we kept going, we tried to do the right things. We could have done it better but I can't fault the players for their effort."

Source: PA