Swansea manager, Vitor Matos felt that his team “were not as sharp” as usual in their 1-0 defeat to West Ham.
Divine Mukasa’s first-half winner proved enough for West Ham to climb to second on goal difference from Middlesbrough after the latter’s 2-2 draw at home to Cardiff, with the pair now just one point off Swansea who remain top of the Championship table.
“It’s not the result we wanted, but I think we were in control,” reflected Matos to swanseacity.com post-match as he felt that his team wasted their chances through a lack of sharp end product finishing touches.
“We pushed West Ham back. We tried to create and we tried to force a few situations. We had numerous opportunities and we should have scored one or two as well and got a point from the game.
“It was a game decided in the box, and I think that’s how it was. Between the boxes, it was quite even. I think we had much more control, with much more initiative to try to get the game for us.
“Unfortunately, we were not as sharp as before in those moments. They defended really well as well. They are a good team, especially the back four was really organised and hard to break down.”
Matos however felt that his team has benefitted from going toe-to-toe with the automatic promotion and title favourites.
“These are the games we want to compete in, and the kind of teams we want to compete against. We want to try to beat the best ones. They are one of the best of the league.
“Obviously, today we couldn’t, but I think we showed a lot of character and a lot of will to do that.”
20,793 fans were in attendance with Matos thankful for their support in the top-of-table showdown and pleased to see their investment in his vision for the team.
“It was great to see and I’m really happy that people believe in the squad, believe in us, believe in the club,” continued the 38-year-old Portuguese manager.
“I think that’s a big part of what we are trying to do. It allows us to compete against every team, and that’s what we wanted.
“Unfortunately, today we could not deliver the result for them, but I hope that will change next game.”
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