Swansea City and Sheffield United played out a 0-0 draw in the Championship's regular season round 2 at the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday 22 August. The result leaves the hosts top of the table with four points from their opening two fixtures, while Sheffield move up to ninth with six.
The first card came at minute 24 when Harrison Burrows picked up a yellow. To be fair, both sides were feeling each other out rather than committing, and the referee kept things tidy. There were no clear-cut chances in either direction, and the game settled into a rhythm that suited neither side's attacking intentions.
At minute 59 Jay Fulton joined the book on the other side, and then the substitutions began in earnest. Swansea brought on Adam Idah and Moussa Kounfolo Yeo together at the hour mark, followed by Joe Rothwell for Sheffield at 65. Ben Cabango and Elijah Just came on for the hosts at 67, then Patrick Bamford arrived at 78. Jay Fulton was replaced at 81, and the final pair of changes at 90 brought on Harrison Burrows and Oliver Arblaster for Sheffield. Filip Lissah took the last yellow at 90+5.
Swansea dominated possession at 69 per cent and completed 542 passes, but only managed one shot on target from six inside the penalty area. Their expected goals figure sat at 0.57, while Sheffield's 1.46 suggests they created slightly better quality chances despite having just 31 per cent of the ball. The visitors registered two shots on target and completed 139 passes, with more interceptions at 13 than the hosts.
By then the table told its own story. Swansea's four points from two games puts them at the summit after beating Stoke 2-1 and beating Leganès 1-0 in pre-season, with only a 0-1 defeat to Birmingham in between. Sheffield have drawn three of their four league matches, including a goalless result against Birmingham earlier this month, and sit six points behind the leaders.