Swansea 2 - 2 Sunderland
KO: Sat Sep 01 15:00:00 BST 2012 Ground: The Liberty StadiumReferee: R East
Preview: Martin O'Neill Takes Sunderland To Swansea In Premier League
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Sunderland travel to Swansea looking to end the team's 100% record under new manager Michael Laudrup.
Sunderland will be grateful just to be playing the fixture after their first home game of the campaign against Reading was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.
That allowed new signings Steven Fletcher and Adam Johnson to make their debuts in the less pressured environment of Tuesday's 2-0 cup win over Morecambe.
And the Black Cats will take encouragement from their goalless draw at Arsenal on the opening day that they can stop a free-scoring Swansea side that has so far netted eight Premier League goals without reply.
Laudrup's side followed up emphatic back-to-back Premier League wins with another triumph over Barnsley in the Capital One Cup in midweek to continue the impressive start to his reign.
Barring a miraculous result for Everton against West Brom at The Hawthorns, a victory for the Swans will take them to the top of the Premier League going into the international break.
Opta Facts
- Sunderland have won none of their last eight Premier League away games
- Michu has scored three goals from just three shots on target
- Danny Graham has scored in three successive Premier League home appearances
Swansea 2 - 2 Sunderland: Steven Fletcher Double Earns Sunderland A Point
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Steven Fletcher bagged a brace on his Sunderland debut, but a clash with Swansea which included a bit of everything ended 2-2.
The Black Cats' new £12million frontman offered an early return on the club's sizeable summer investment, but saw each of his efforts cancelled out by Wayne Routledge and Michu.
Swansea were reduced to 10 men late on when Chico saw red, but the spoils would be shared in an entertaining encounter.
It took 40 minutes for the Liberty Stadium clash to get going, with a serious injury to Swans full-back Neil Taylor leaving the game and atmosphere pretty flat.
Fletcher was the man to light the touch paper, with the former Wolves striker capitalising on a terrible mistake from Ashley Williams to calmly stroke the ball into the bottom corner.
The hosts restored parity in the first minute of stoppage-time at the end of the first half, with some slick interplay allowing Routledge to rattle a close-range effort past Simon Mignolet.
Sunderland entered the interval holding a narrow advantage, though, as Fletcher, with a helping hand from Chico, bundled home a Sebastian Larsson free-kick.
Swansea hit back again on 66 minutes, as summer signing Michu recorded his fourth goal for the club with a powerful header from Nathan Dyer's cross.
Chico was given his marching orders five minutes later after catching Louis Saha with a high boot, but Sunderland were unable make the most of their numerical advantage.



