SWANSEA.... 2 STOKE......... 0
Minute of madness at Liberty as Nando silences his critics
IN the space of 60 crazy seconds Swansea’s season swung from the depths of despair to heights of ecstasy.
When referee Michael Oliver rightly awarded Stoke a penalty in the 67th minute, it appeared he had stuck a knife into the hearts of Paul Clement’s strugglers.
But that was before Austrian ace Marco Arnautovic contrived to blast the spot-kick into Row Z and Swansea immediately raced up the other end and scored a killer second.
Tom Carroll’s 25-yard drive was speculative and seemingly drifting wide – until it struck the leg of ex-Swan Joe Allen and dipped wickedly under the bar.
The relief and joy that erupted all around the Liberty Stadium was extraordinary.
So too was the touchline celebratory run of their boss, Paul Clement.
One minute up, one minute down – then right back up again. Such is life when you are involved in the thick of a scrap to survive in the Premier League.
Ramming home that point at the final whistle was the news that Swansea’s relegation rivals Hull, despite being down to 10 men, had beaten Watford 2-0.
All of which meant that it was as we were before a ball had been kicked with Clement’s men still in the drop zone – and still two points behind the Tigers.
Yet at least this first win in six has stopped the rot for now and breathed new life into Swansea’s bid to escape the drop.
Relieved Swansea boss Clement said: “The margins are so small. We have had our share of bad luck lately but today it has gone for us.
“But Hull have won again – that proves how much we had to win today. Had the gap gone to five points, it would have been very difficult.
“The big thing is we have put our poor run of form behind us. We have our confidence back and we’ll need it because it’s going to the wire.
“Hopefully, this will give us the impetus to finish strongly. We are right behind Hull – breathing down their necks.”
If you could handpick a home game at this stage of the season, Stoke might well be first-choice opponents.
Mark Hughes’ Potters, with 39 points, are safe. Yet they are nowhere near endangering anybody in the top eight either.
They epitomise a side in mid-table obscurity with little to play for, save pride. They have now lost eight of their last 10 away fixtures.
Hughes said: “If we had scored the penalty, the anxiety here would have set in again. We were in the ascendancy at the time. It needs to go in.
“But we didn’t ask enough questions today. We wanted a fast start to put pressure on them but we did the opposite by conceding early. It was the last thing we needed.”
Arguably Swansea’s biggest problem of the last seven weeks had been the form of Gylfi Sigurdsson. The previously prolific Iceland playmaker had gone 10 games without a goal – and his confidence was suffering as a result.
That was evident three times in the opening six minutes when, in promising positions, he failed to deliver a shot – let alone a goal.
Not that it mattered come the 10th minute as he turned provider instead – for the 12th occasion this campaign.
His inswinging corner evaded the Potters defence – and there was Fernando Llorente to power in a free header past fit-again Stoke stopper Jack Butland.
That was some answer to the critics who had panned the Spanish hitman for not trying and not caring seven days earlier in the defeat at Watford.
But midway through the second period it looked as if Swansea would pay the price for not pushing for a priceless second.
Arnautovic, escaping the offside flag, squared a cross for Shaqiri, who was then sent tumbling by the clumsy Federico Fernandez.
For a brief moment, it seemed Swansea were down and out – only for Arnautovic to blunder so badly from 12 yards.
And before any of the home fans had stopped dancing in delight at that miss, Carroll’s deflected drive was flying past England keeper Butland to send them totally bonkers.