Premier League: Swansea 0 Aston Villa 0

Swansea City held Aston Villa to a 0-0 draw in a game heavily affected by the death of Wales manager Gary Speed at the age of 42.

The home side dominated the first half, but failed to have a clinical opportunity on goal, with Villa going close following a deflected shot from Gabby Agbonlahor that was well-saved by Michel Vorm.

Swans were forced to bring on Leroy Lita in the second half after an injury to Danny Graham and the striker could have won the game on two occasions, denied by both his lack of accuracy and the efforts of Villa keeper Shay Given.

The game began following a minute’s silence, which quickly turned into spontaneous applause, in respect to Speed, who was found hanged in his home on Sunday morning.

It was an aggressive start from both sides, as Fabian Delph found himself with a yellow card to his name after a late challenge early on, with his team-mate Scott Sinclair attaining his own caution following a similarly clumsy tackle on Villa’s Chris Heard. Alan Hutton was also carded in the first 15 minutes.

Swansea bossed the possession in the early minutes, with the hosts enjoying 75 percent of the ball and were constantly threatening the Villans’ defence.

It took 20 minutes for the visitors to mount their first attack on the Swansea goal, with Agbonlahor taking advantage of Angel Rangel’s mis-kick, allowing the England international to burst into the box from the left side and pop off a shot, with the effort deflecting off of a defender, leaving Vorm to make an improvised save with his legs.

Villa won a subsequent succession of corners following some encouraging play after seeing little of the ball, but the midlands outfit could not convert their opportunities into shots on goal.

However, stubborn defending at both ends ensured the two teams went into the break on even terms.

The second half saw another forced change for Swansea as Graham took a knock to the knee in a challenge from Richard Dunne, with Lita coming on as the striker’s replacement just a few minutes into the half.

Agbonlahor had the first true chance after the break, but he had a curling effort denied by Vorm, who made a less than convincing save, with the ball popping out of his grasp and out for a corner.

Villa got themselves into the game more and more as it progressed, but the Swans were not giving up on their own attacking engagements, as the hosts continued to push through the midfield in an attempt to move the ball to lone man Lita.

And it was Graham’s replacement who should have given Swansea the lead after being put through on goal by Mark Gower, but the striker pulled his shot wide after turning well on the ball. Just moments later, it was Lita again with a great chance, this time his effort was denied with a great save from Given.

Villa began to push as the game came to its concluding minutes, with the visitors winning a flurry of corners and free-kicks to test the Swansea defence till the end.

However, the Swans hung on to restore their fearsome home status on what was a sad day in Wales.