GESTURE TO THE JACK ARMY REAPS ITS REWARDS FOR THE FLYING SWANS
SWANSEA City are just 90 minutes from Premier League safety – and it could come as early as today. Swansea delivered again when they needed to as goals from Fernando Llorente and Kyle Naughton sunk already relegated Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
And now it means they need just one result to book their place in the top-flight for next season.
A Hull defeat at Crystal Palace at midday today would be enough to guarantee a seventh-straight season of Premier League football.
Likewise, a home win against West Brom next weekend on the final day would render all other results irrelevant.
Swansea were not at their best against the Black Cats but – backed by a huge away following who snapped up the players’ offer to pay for their Stadium of Light tickets – grabbed their third win from four games to leave them on 38 points.
Llorente made it for 14 for the season when he headed home after nine minutes before Kyle Naughton gave Swansea the cushion they needed with his first goal for the club at the end of the first-half.
It was a game Swansea knew they could not let slip, but there were some early signs of wobbles as Sunderland tried to capitalise on some Swansea sloppiness.
But as they attacked the end packed with 3,000 travelling Jacks, so Llorente delivered. With Naughton having bought the foul from Victor Anichebe out wide, Gylfi Sigurdsson delivered beautifully and Llorente got above John O’Shea and Jason Denayer to make contact, the ball flying past the onrushing Jordan Pickford with nine minutes gone.
Swansea sensed blood but Sunderland did not crumble, Jermain Defoe forcing a save from Lukasz Fabianski.
But any worries were put to bed when Naughton finished off a superb team goal involving Martin Olsson, Tom Carroll and Leon Britton before Ki’s brilliant pass was lashed home in first-half injury time by Naughton.
Swansea, though, struggled to kill off Sunderland who came out prepared to battle, with Didier Ndong producing a superb tackle to deny Sigurdsson while Fabianski saved well from a Wahbi Khazri free-kick.
Here’s what we learned... IT’S SO, SO CLOSE Swansea are so close you can almost taste the shandys that will be supped in relief on Wind Street next Sunday should they finish the job. Whatever happens between Hull and Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, this win ensured Paul Clement’ side did all they could do this weekend.
At the very least, Swansea have taken the fight to the final game, something any supporter would have taken in a heartbeat back on New Year’s Eve when all hope seemed lost. Indeed, whatever happens now credit has to go to manager Paul Clement who, when he arrived, most thought he was doing so to rebuild the team in the Championship. Swansea have now collected 26 points from the 18 games since he was confirmed as Bob Bradley’s successor, more than double the 12 the side had managed from an extra game.
There’s only thing all of the city and the region want to happen between now and five o’clock next Sunday, but Clement has proven he was the right choice for the club and will remains so whatever happens. GESTURE TO FANS WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY It may have cost Swansea’s players around £75,000 to buy the entire away supporter allocation at the Stadium of Light, but its value was priceless.
This felt like a home game right from the off, the Swansea fans bottling their emotions up on the long journey and letting all out with a raucous noise from the first whistle. It settled Swansea, placed the tension onto the home players and fans and lifted the side at the right times. It may have been a goodwill gesture for a group of fans who have not had a lot to cheer this term, but it ended up being much more. SET PIECE QUALITY If you were told that Swansea’s season would be defined by goals from set-pieces, you’d probably assume that it would be the side’s age-old problem with shipping from dead balls costing them. Not only have Swansea long had a weakness in keeping out goals from corners and free-kicks, they rarely took advantage of their own dangerous dead ball situations.
The combination of Sigurdsson and Llorente has changed that at one end, Sigurdsson providing for the Spaniard six times – more than any other Premier League partnership – with the majority from free-kicks. It worked again here while, at the other end, Swansea have impressively not conceded from a set-piece (other than Wayne Rooney’s contentious penalty) since Paul Clement arrived. NAUGHTON POPS UP AT THE PERFECT TIME Kyle Naughton has not made the strides many hoped he would when he quit Tottenham for Swansea. Given the chance of regular football having been a back-up at White Hart Lane, he had the opportunity to kick-on and turn potential into performances. Naughton has not done that while there have been times where has particularly struggled. But, at a time Swansea needed the very best and the very most from all of their players, Naughton really has stood up to be counted and stepped up his standards, showing just the right character required.
He has flourished with the space afforded going forward in the diamond and has shown greater defensive awareness to go with it. It was his quick play that earned the free-kick for the opener, and it was his excellent run and finish that effectively finished the game. FABIANSKI IS CALMNESS PERSONIFIED Though he wasn’t required to pull off any saves for the highlights reel, Lukasz Fabianski was vital for Swansea in a different way on this occasion. There was a smart save from a Wahbi Khazri free-kick that bounced awkwardly, but goalkeepers don’t always have to do the spectacular to
be important and what Fabianski has excelled in in recent weeks has been his strong, confident claims from crosses and corners just when you wondered whether pressure would see panic.
His calmness in his collections has transferred to the defence in front of him and, as Swansea struggled to impose themselves when Sunderland half threatened a comeback, so the big Pole in the goal made sure he took the sting out of things.