By Gareth James
Ronald – the Swansea City star who celebrates goals with Cristiano Ronaldo-style leaps into the air – insists there are more to come.
The Brazilian winger scored twice as the Swans beat Sunderland 2-1 at the weekend at the Stadium of Light.
It proved a critical victory for the club – maintaining their four-point cushion above the relegation zone as a number of clubs below them in the Championship table also won.
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The 22-year-old’s brace were his first goals for the club since he joined in January from Gremio Anapolis, a club in his homeland, following a loan spell at Portuguese club Estrela da Amadora.
“When I signed, my aim was to be happy myself and to also make the fans happy and I think everyone is happy after this game,” said Ronald.
“I want to keep improving and I am hungry for more goals.
“I work hard for the team and I have been very well welcomed by the fans, by the staff and my teammates.
“I’m going to work hard to continue building confidence and improving. These two goals have helped build my connection with the fans, but this is just the start, I’m going to keep working hard for them.”
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The winger scored the opener as he put away the rebound after Liam Cullen had seen his header saved, while his second saw him produce a wonderful first touch and volleyed finish from a Joe Allen pass.
“I’m very happy with the performance and the two goals,” he added.
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Captain Matt Grimes also had praise for Ronald and believes the South American and Polish wide player Przemyslaw Placheta have added an injection of pace since they came into the team in last month’s transfer window.
“He’s been great, he is class and he really does give us another dimension,” said the midfielder.
“We want to build up and play attractive football but if teams do not respect us and go to a man-to-man press, we have the ability to hurt them in behind with Ronald and Przemyslaw.
“It’s a good dimension to have and he is a pleasure to play with.”
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On the victory at Sunderland which had followed back-to-back home defeats, Grimes added: ““It was a class day, and a brilliant win,” said Grimes.
“It’s been a tough run of fixtures so to come away from home and perform as we did says a lot about the lads.
“We wanted to be on the front foot, we have worked hard all week and I think we will only get better and better.
“We were brilliant in the first half, and could have been ahead by a few more. We deserved the win.
“The manager talks about it all the time. We want to build and have a lot of the ball, but possession is pointless if you don’t do anything with it and you don’t put the ball in the back of the net.
“It’s something we have worked on a lot in training, being aggressive in and out of possession, it’s been a good week and we have more time to work now ahead of the next game and I can’t wait to get back out there.
“We want to take the momentum from this, we have dusted ourselves down after a run playing some of the best teams the Championship has ever seen, and come and put in a good performance.”
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