Swansea skipper Matt Grimes reacts to his side’s triumph over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Swansea captain Matt Grimes admits he felt the pressure from Sunderland’s home crowd, but complimented his squad for holding on to a 2-1 victory.
The Swans dominated the first half at the Stadium of Light, with two goals from Ronald giving them a half-time advantage. Sunderland’s Luke O’Nien pulled one back 13 minutes from time, but the Black Cats were unable to equalise.
Swansea’s win was only their second in eight league games under head coach Luke Williams, following a string of difficult matchups. “It was a brilliant win,” Grimes told Swansea’s website. “I believe it’s been a really challenging run of fixtures. To come away from home and perform as well as we did, particularly in the first half, is a credit to the players.
“We’ve played games against Southampton, Leicester, Ipswich, and Leeds, so we wanted to be on the front foot, but we know how dangerous those teams are.” They are four of the best teams the Championship has ever had.
“We knew coming here; we’ve been working on it all week, and we’ll only get better. I thought we played brilliantly in the first half. It could have been more than two, to be honest, and I’m quite satisfied with the three points.”
When asked about the late pressure Sunderland put in front of 41,777 fans at the Stadium of Light, Grimes responded: “The crowd here is excellent, certainly one of the best in the league, and you can feel it as an away team when they have a couple of chances.
“Even a handful of half-time moments don’t need to be of high quality; simply a tackle or a forward run, and everyone is on their feet. You can feel it virtually sucking the ball into your goal. To stand up to that, the fans, and be on top for the last 10, 15, is a fantastic result.”
Sunderland are currently preparing for a trip to Norwich on Saturday, followed by a home encounter against league leaders Leicester.
