By Paul Jones
Michael Obafemi revealed he was driven by the desire to make history after his two-goal raid inked his name into Welsh football folklore.
The Swansea City striker bookended a stunning victory for his club against their bitterest rivals and now his name – and his club’s 4-0 win at Cardiff City – will be talked about in Wales for years.
Not only did it help Swansea debunk the well-worn statistic that neither club had ever managed a league double over the other in 110 years of trying, but it was Swansea’s biggest derby victory for 73 years.
It made zero difference to the mid-reaches of the Championship table – Swansea remain in 16th spot and Cardiff stay 17th – but it made all the difference in the world to the second city’s players and fans.
The Bluebirds had lost 3-0 at Swansea back in October and Obafemi said: “Throughout the build-up in the week, the boys were talking about wanting to make history.
“It was amazing that no team had done this is 110 years and it’s incredible that we’ve now written our name into the history books.”
Obafemi celebrated his opening goal with the controversial “swim away” gesture – a reference to a violent clash that once took place between rival fans on a Swansea seafront.
— Danielson ⚽🏈 (@DanielS0N95) April 4, 2022
That was despite Swans head coach Russell Martin’s suggestion before the game that his players would not risk the blowback that followed the home game.
Obafemi was more restrained with his celebrations after his late second goal – a sublime curling effort from the edge of the penalty area – but by then most Cardiff fans had melted away following earlier strikes from Ben Cabango and Hannes Wolf.
Raised in London, but born in Dublin to Nigerian parents, Obafemi’s Swansea stint has been a slow burner that is now ablaze.
It took him 15 matches to score once after his move from Southampton, but the 21-year-old has now got eight in his last 11 games.
“I think this was the biggest game of my career,” added Obafemi, who has one Republic of Ireland cap, earned against Denmark in 2018.
“It was a huge game for our fans and I wanted to show them what kind of player I am.
“Hopefully, I did that today. The boys were amazing – a clean sheet away from home and now we have to keep that going.”
The club seriously need to sort out extending Kyle Naughton’s contract out. He’s the heart and soul of Swansea City which nobody can deny his love and passion when he wears the badge with pride. pic.twitter.com/8xRITvMdNM
— Ace Humphreys 🏴 (@homerboss10) April 3, 2022
For Swansea skipper Matt Grimes, or Grimes, it was his sixth appearance in the south Wales derby and the third opportunity to do the double with the Swans, having won the opening game in the previous two seasons.
“Third time lucky,” he said.
“It feels incredible, incredible. There aren’t many words that can describe it to be honest.
“For the fans, for the people of Swansea, you can see how much it means to them and to do it in the way we did was exceptional.
“I alluded to it this week, it’s hard to do the double over any team in a season so to do it over your fiercest rivals is even tougher.
“With the fixture being what it is, it’s an incredible achievement; I’m so proud of the lads, the staff, everyone. It’s such a proud day.
“The fans were incredible – I don’t really have any words, they were absolutely outstanding as they have been all season. It’s purely for them. Obviously we’ve put our names down in history, but the fans have got the bragging rights forever now.
Not sure why all the Jacks keep mentioning the double to me
Are they talking about the double i scored in 2010 when we beat them 2-1 #bluebirds— Michael Chopra (@MichaelChopra) April 3, 2022
“It’s a great step in the right direction today and we’ll all remember this season forever.”
Cardiff mostly just looked on as Swansea tore them to pieces, an oddly submissive display that their manager Steve Morison found hard to explain.
His only consolation is that he won’t carry the stain of being the first manager to be “doubled” as Mick McCarthy was in charge five months ago.
But Morison admitted: “It was the biggest crowd of the season for us and a lot of people didn’t deal with the occasion well enough.”
