Swansea 0-1 West Ham: Matos urges Swans to turn frustration into fuel after home defeat
Matos wants Swans to build on performance despite first home league defeat of season
Swansea City’s four-game winning run came to an end at the Swansea.com Stadium as West Ham United claimed a 1-0 victory to climb to second in the Championship table.
The only goal of the game came in the first half from Divine Mukasa, ending a run in which Swansea had lost only once at home in 21 Championship games under Vitor Matos. The defeat was Swansea’s second in 11 league games this season, with West Ham and Southampton the only sides to beat them.
Swansea remained top of the table despite the setback and pushed for an equaliser after the break. Ben Cabango came closest for the hosts at set-pieces, rattling the woodwork with one header and dragging another wide when an equaliser looked destined.
West Ham, described by Matos as one of the main contenders to go to the Premier League, had further opportunities. Lawrence Vigouroux was called into action in the second half, making saves from Jarrod Bowen twice and from Pablo.
‘That frustration should give us fuel’
Matos said the manner of the loss should not halt Swansea’s early-season momentum.
"I think it's important that when the game finished we all felt that we could have taken something out of the game," said the Swansea head coach. "I think that's the most important thing today, that we played against a really good opposition, a team that of course is one of the main contenders to go to the Premier League, and we felt that we can compete and we can beat them as well."
"That frustration, that's something that should stay, but that's something that more than anything should give us the fuel to push ourselves in training, push our standards and keep improving."
Matos added: "What I saw today, I think we can compete against every team and that's what we need to do. We need to keep pushing ourselves to beat the best teams of the league. West Ham is one of the best teams. We tried. Unfortunately, we could not get something out of the game and that's the story."
The result made West Ham the first visiting side since Southampton in April to win a league game at Swansea, but Matos insisted the Swans proved their credentials despite losing a league game on their own ground for the first time since April.