Swansea shock turns up heat in relegation race
THE battle to avoid Premier League relegation has taken a significant twist after Swansea capitalised on Hull’s defeat to Sunderland with an upset win over Everton to leapfrog the Tigers into 17th.
After relegated Sunderland had taken a surprise 2- 0 victory at Hull, Fernando Llorente headed the solitary goal as Swansea held on to climb out of the bottom three for the first time since March.
Four consecutive home wins had put Hull’s fate firmly in their own hands but, given the chance to pull five points clear of 18th- placed Swansea, they suffered an attack of the jitters that could prove fatal.
Second- half goals by Billy Jones and Jermain Defoe earned Sunderland a first win in 11 games and condemned Hull to a first home defeat under Marco Silva.
“It’s disappointing,” Hull manager Marco Silva told the BBC.
“We had chances to score in many moments of the game. Ultimately there was big tension in some of the team.
“It’s an important moment for us. We didn’t achieve what we wanted from the match but we have two more games.”
Champions Leicester City finally ensured their safety with a 3- 0 victory at home to Watford, while Stoke City and Bournemouth will be playing top- flight football next season after a 2- 2 draw.
Stoke ended a 10- hour away- goal drought in the 33rd minute when Bournemouth striker Lys Mousset headed the ball into his own goal but another own goal, from Ryan Shawcross late on, denied Stoke victory.