Swansea boss Monk baffled by defeat

Swansea manager Garry Monk felt his side were extremely unfortunate to slip to a 2-1 Barclays Premier League defeat against Tottenham.

The Swans dominated for large spells after Wilfried Bony cancelled out Harry Kane’s early opener, and Christian Eriksen’s 89th-minute winner was harsh on the hosts who deserved at least a point from the encounter.

The defeat means Swansea are yet to beat Tottenham in seven league matches since they won promotion to the top flight three years ago, and Monk was stumped as to how they did not end that hoodoo at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.

“We were on the front foot the whole of the second half and it’s mesmerising at times how we didn’t win that game, but it’s a classic sucker-punch really for us,” Monk said on Sky Sports 1.

“An individual mistake, giving the ball away when we should have cleared our lines, and obviously (we) get punished heavily for it.

“We didn’t really deserve that but we come away with no points from a complete effort from us and (being) the only team that looked like they were going to win it.”

Tottenham have made a habit of snatching late away victories in recent weeks and Eriksen hailed the mentality of his team-mates after they did so once again.

“I think we’re a team that does not settle for a point, I think the players were (thinking) that we should go for a win,” Eriksen, who also scored a last-gasp winner at Hull last month, said.

“In the end we pressed a bit more but of course they had chances in the second half.”

The victory moves Tottenham up to seventh in the Premier League standings and Kane felt referee Robert Madley was wrong to wave away his first-half penalty claims after he appeared to be fouled in the box.

“I think it could have been (a penalty),” he said. “The ref said he thought it was accidental but obviously sometimes players don’t mean to foul you, it just happens.

“From my point of view, I thought it was but these things happen in games and you’ve just got to move on and fortunately it didn’t matter in the end.”