Kuban Krasnodar 1 Swansea City 1: match report

Michael Laudrup admitted he felt sorry for his players after seeing them again suffer the agony of conceding a stoppage-time equaliser as they drew 1-1 with 10-man Kuban Krasnodar. The reverse fixture in Swansea had ended with the same scoreline after Djibril Cisse’s last-gasp penalty, and the Swans were again undone in injury-time at Kuban Stadium as Ibrahima Balde cancelled out Wilfried Bony’s opener for the visitors as Kuban had defender Xandao sent off with 15 minutes remaining. The result means Swansea have now won just twice in their past nine games in all competitions, and must wait for the chance to secure progress from Group A, which would have been confirmed with a victory. However, Laudrup was pleased with the response from his players after Sunday’s derby defeat to Cardiff, but just felt they had lacked a bit of good fortune. “They scored in injury time like last time but when you look overall the games were completely different,” said the Dane. Related Articles Rubin Kazan 1 Wigan Athletic 0 07 Nov 2013 Europa League results 07 Nov 2013 How to improve your table tennis technique Santander “We were very pleased to see the reaction and the performance in the first half, we played some good football and there were good individual performances. We had good chances and went in front and it was quite an open game. I thought we did well. “In the second half we tried to play a little more on the counter and had chances but the goal came. “In the end we learnt from the first game and we kept the ball so we cannot say anything about that. “I feel sorry for the players because I think they deserved to win this game. But sometimes you need a little luck.” One positive for Swansea was the performance of Bony, who finished emphatically in the ninth minute after excellent work from Alejandro Pozuelo and Roland Lamah, making just his third start for the club. Laudrup has used his £12 million record signing sparingly since his summer arrival from Vitesse Arnhem and recently claimed the Ivorian is not up to speed in terms of his fitness and adaptation to English football. But with talisman Michu sidelined by an ankle problem, Bony put in a performance that suggested he is ready to shoulder the goalscoring burden. Laudrup said: “There were positives for every forward, but it was important for him to score a goal. He got a little tired but that’s OK for me because it is important we get the best out of him and it was a big step in the right direction, so I m happy for him as he scored a goal and goals are so important for forwards.” Having produced a strong first-half display Swansea faded as the second half went on, cheaply losing possession and inviting Kuban on to them. Despite that setback, and seeing Valencia go top of Group A with victory over St Gallen, a win from either of their two remaining games will see them go through to the last 32. “Whatever happens, if we win the next game we are through, we know that,” said Laudrup. “It’s always positive if you can decide your own fate and we can do that. ” Match details Kuban Krasnodar Belenov, Bugaev, Xandao, Dealbert, Kozlov, Melgarejo (Ibra 73), Kabore, Tlisov (Fidler 78), Popov, Cisse, Khubulov (Ignatiev 66). Subs Bajcora, Bucur, Zhavnerchik, Bueno. Booked Xandao, Dealbert. Sent Off Xandao. Swansea Vorm, Tiendalli, Amat, Williams, Ben Davies, de Guzman, Canas, Dyer (Rangel 62), Pozuelo, Lamah (Routledge 61), Bony (Vazquez 71). Subs Tremmel, Taylor, Chico, Britton. Booked Tiendalli. Referee R Schorgenhofer (Austria).