Swansea 2 - 0 StokeFernando Llorente and Tom Carroll seal Swansea’s vital win over Stoke
Home team scorersFernando Llorente 10
Tom Carroll 70
Goals from Fernando Llorente and Tom Carroll proved that Swansea City will push the relegation rivals Hull City to the very end to try to secure their Premier League status. Hull’s unlikely win against Watford, even after playing the majority of the game with 10 men, means they still have a two-point advantage over the 18th-placed Swansea.
However, Swansea’s gutsy home display, and a first win in seven games, will give them momentum at just the right time. Paul Clement’s side will be counting their lucky stars, though, as Marko Arnautovic’s second-half penalty miss came just seconds before Carroll doubled Swansea’s lead.
Clement said after the Watford defeat last weekend that Swansea’s game with Stoke was the club’s biggest since their Championship play-off final in 2011. His bold team selection reflected his words, a match he described as must-win. The Swans lined up in a 4-4-2 diamond formation, with Gylfi Sigurdsson playing in his preferred No10 position and the club captain, Leon Britton, starting his first game since December.
Clement’s opposite number Mark Hughes was trying to solve problems of his own as he restored Peter Crouch to the starting XI to partner Saido Berahino up front. Despite the attacking intent, Stoke have still only scored one away goal in 2017.
With both managers opting for attacking lineups, it was Clement’s tweak that nearly worked in the opening stages. Kyle Naughton’s floated cross was brought down by Sigurdsson, whose effort flew over the crossbar.
Swansea continued to pester Stoke’s rearguard and they were rewarded when the top goalscorer Llorente headed the hosts in front in the 10th minute. The Spaniard connected well with Sigurdsson’s corner and directed his header past the returning Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland, who was making his first Premier League start since fracturing his ankle last March.
Sigurdsson underlined his value to Swansea once again. He has scored or assisted 20 of their 39 Premier League goals this term. Even if the Swans do stay up, they will find it very difficult to keep the Iceland star.
Stoke struggled to deal with Swansea’s front two Llorente and Jordan Ayew in a vibrant first half, and it limited their attacking threat.
However, Berahino spurned two golden opportunities to not only draw Stoke level, but score his first goal in red and white colours since his £12m move from West Bromwich Albion in January. Former Swansea midfielder Joe Allen’s pinpoint cross found an unmarked Berahino, who somehow headed wide. He then failed to find the back of the net again when he headed straight at Lukasz Fabianski from close-range, seconds before the break.
Those two chances for Stoke were sandwiched between Butland’s save with his feet to deny a dangerous looking Ayew.
The Potters started the second half with more purpose. Federico Fernandez had to be at his best to block Arnautovic’s goal-bound strike. But Fernandez went from hero to zero when his trip on Xherdan Shaqiri inside the box gave Stoke the chance to equalise from the spot on 69 minutes. Arnautovic stepped up and blazed his penalty over the bar to send the Liberty Stadium crowd wild.
Swansea then went up the other end and doubled their lead just a minute later thanks to Carroll’s 25-yard strike, which took a mean deflection off Allen to beat Butland.
Stoke could have lost the game by a larger margin if Butland had not denied Carroll and Ayew late on. Swansea defended valiantly for the remainder of the contest and this much-needed win keeps them in touching distance of survival.
Guardian
