Bony’s hard graft pays off
WILFRIED BONY’S smile spread from ear to ear after the striker gave Swansea a precious three points.
A win for Paul Clement’s men moved them off the bottom of the table and dragged West Brom further into trouble.
Bony came up with the only goal and Swansea remain firmly in a relegation battle. But this felt like a game that could yet change their season. “I knew I just had to work hard and the goals would come,” said Bony, who will captain his team against former side Manchester City on Wednesday.
“When you score the winning goal it’s the best thing. We can stay up. If we win two games we can be up to 14th place.”
Swansea and their opponents struggled to create anything of note in the first half and the closest either side came was West Brom’s Jake Livermore heading against his own post.
It remained tight and tetchy after the
SWANSEA WEST BROM
break, but Clement threw on attackers Jordan Ayew, Luciano Narsingh and Tammy Abraham.
Hal Robson-Kanu wasted a glorious West Brom chance, crossing out of play on a counter-attack, and Alan Pardew’s men paid for it. They failed to clear a corner and it fell to Bony, who powered home.
Pardew admitted his team needed a fresh attacking spark: “It’s not great,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to strengthen.”
SWANSEA (4-3-3):