Rotherham United and Swansea City played out a 1-1 draw at the New York Stadium in the opening round of the EFL Championship on Saturday, 30th July 2022. Chiedozie Ogbone put the hosts in front in the 16th minute before Harry Darling scored for the visitors in the 38th minute.
Rotherham United lined up in a 3-5-2 formation in this game. Viktor Johansson lined up in goal and in front of him consisted the back-three of Grant Hall, Richard Wood and Cameron Humphreys. Wes Harding and Shane Ferguson were the wing-backs supporting the midfield trio of Daniel Barlaser, Jamie Lindsay and Ben Wiles. The two strikers were Conor Washington and the goalscorer Chiedozie Ogbone. For Swansea, 3-4-3 was the preferred formation as Andrew Fisher was stationed in between the sticks and the back-three ahead of him were Nathan Wood, Kyle Naughton and the goalscorer, Harry Darling. Joel Latibeaudiere and Matthew Sorinola were the wing-backs supporting the central midfield pairing of Jay Fulton and captain Matt Grimes. The front-three consisted of Joel Piroe, Michael Obafemi and Jamie Paterson.
Swansea City had the lion’s share of possession (74%). They attempted more shots but mustered fewer on target (five) than Rotherham’s eight. Rotherham had zero shots off target and one of their attempts was blocked. The Swans had more corners than the Millers but were also adjudged offside two more times. The visitors committed only half as many fouls as the hosts but earned one more yellow card. Each team missed one big chance to score a goal. Swansea had one counterattack to Rotherham’s zero. The hosts shot more from inside the penalty area than the visitors. Fisher, the Swansea keeper, made seven saves in this match to Johansson’s four.
Swansea completed an astonishing 523 passes out of 589 in this game, giving them a pass accuracy of 89%. For comparison, Rotherham’s pass completion rate was only 63% as they made only 126 passes out of 201 attempts. The hosts completed more long balls but did so at a rate lower than the Swans. Each team completed three crosses each and at the same success rate of 20%. Swansea completed twice as many dribbles as Rotherham with a 75% success rate. For comparison, the Millers had a 60% success rate. But the visitors lost the ball more times than the hosts. They also won more duels in this game (aerial included). Rotherham made five times more interceptions than the Swans.
A draw is not what both teams would have hoped for on matchday one of the EFL Championship, but it is still better than a loss. Up next for Rotherham United is a trip to Coventry City on 7th August, and for Swansea City, they host Blackburn Rovers on 6th August.
Visuals by Wyscout
