Swansea 3-0 SunderlandHome team scorersGylfi Sigurdsson 51 Pen
Fernando Llorente 54
Fernando Llorente 80
Swansea City’s American owners chose a good day to drop by the Liberty Stadium as Fernando Llorente scored twice for the second home game in succession to lift them off the bottom of the Premier League and breathe life into their survival fight.
It was just the sort of performance and result Bob Bradley needed after a difficult week in which the manager has faced questions about his future after two months in the job. With Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien, the club’s majority shareholders, looking on from the directors’ box, an emphatic home victory provided the best possible response.
Gylfi Sigurdsson was outstanding once again as the Icelander scored the first and created the second, Jay Fulton caught the eye in central midfield with a disciplined display, and Llorente seems to have found his touch in front of goal. The fact Swansea also kept a clean sheet completed a highly satisfactory day for Bradley, whose team are out of the relegation zone.
For Sunderland, this was a match to forget. David Moyes will no doubt lament the soft penalty decision that led to Swansea taking the lead early in the second half, yet Sunderland offered precious little throughout and it was not until the 80th minute that Lukasz Fabianski had a save of note to make.
On the back of the nine-goal thriller against Crystal Palace a fortnight ago, the opening 45 minutes felt like the calm after the storm. Neither Swansea nor Sunderland produced a shot on target in a hugely disappointing first half.
Swansea had plenty of possession but lacked imagination further forward and it was only when Sigurdsson was stood over a set piece that they looked like scoring. Alife Mawson headed one Sigurdsson free-kick narrowly over and Jordi Amat should have done better with another, the Spaniard’s header from the edge of the six-yard box sailing over the bar.
Otherwise, Swansea huffed and puffed against a Sunderland side who seemed content to sit deep and play on the counterattack. The visitors could, and possibly should, have taken the lead in a rare breakaway that started with the goalkeeper Jordan Pickford picking out Victor Anichebe on the halfway line. Anichebe fed Jermain Defoe in the inside-left channel and when the striker turned Mawson inside the Swansea area it seemed certain he would score. Instead Defoe thumped a left-footed shot over the bar and the home supporters breathed a sigh of relief.
There was another reprieve for Swansea early in the second half and the significance of the chance that Defoe thrashed narrowly wide off Fabianski’s upright, following Patrick van Aanholt’s burst down the left, soon became clear. Barely 60 seconds later, Craig Pawson was pointing to the spot at the other end after the referee deemed Jason Denayer handled Wayne Routledge’s cross. It seemed a little harsh – Denayer was turning his back as the ball struck him on the upper arm – yet the assistant referee was quick to raise his flag and Sigurdsson dispatched his penalty kick with the minimum of fuss.
It was like a switch had been flicked as confidence surged through Swansea. Sigurdsson released Modou Barrow inside the Sunderland area and the Gambian drilled a low shot that Pickford superbly turned around the post. There was nothing Pickford could do to stop the goal Swansea scored from the corner that followed. In a well-worked routine straight off the training ground, Sigurdsson slid a low corned into the area that Llorente met with a first-time shot to sweep home from six yards.
Swansea were in total control and only an outstanding piece of goalkeeping from Pickford denied the home team a third. Once again Sigurdsson was the architect, his curling free-kick from the right picking out Amat, whose twisting header was expertly tipped over.
Sunderland were unable to stem the tide and it was no surprise when Swansea scored again. Set free by Leon Britton, Jefferson Montero broke down the left, skirted around Billy Jones and floated over a cross that implored Llorente to head in his second.
Papy Djilobodji saw a late chance flicked onto the bar and over by Fabianski but by then the game was well beyond Sunderland.
Guardian
