Swansea City 1-2 Burnley: Cooper strike not enough as Maatsen brace earns Clarets victory

A spirited display was not enough for Swansea City who started 2023 with a 2-1 defeat to Championship leaders Burnley.

Ian Maatsen struck twice in the opening 22 minutes to put the away side in control at the Swansea.com Stadium, although Ollie Cooper pulled a goal back for Swansea in what was an exciting league encounter.

But Russell Martin's men were unable to extend their record of claiming 14 points from losing positions this season as they dropped back into the bottom half of the table ahead of Sunday's FA Cup third round clash with Bristol City.

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Joe Allen replaced Luke Cundle in what was the only alteration to the Swans' line-up from the 4-0 demolition job of Watford on Friday night.

Former Swans Connor Roberts and Jack Cork both started for the visitors who came into the match having won nine of their last 10 Championship matches, and while they didn't overly trouble Swansea, it swiftly became evident why Vincent Kompany's side have such an impressive haul of points to their name.

Chances were at a premium early on as both sides looked to gain control of the contest. But Swansea were ruthlessly punished for an error with what was the game's first opening.

A loose pass from Ben Cabango was picked off by the lively Nathan Tella who was brought down by Harry Darling. Up stepped Maatsen to rifle the resulting free-kick beyond Steven Benda via the post from around 25 yards out to send the travelling supporters into raptures.

To their credit, the hosts responded well to that setback and created a fine opening for Liam Cullen to extend his tally of three goals in as many matches after line-breaking passes from Matt Grimes and Cooper, although the striker could only fire