Swansea City 2-0 Stoke City: Classy Swans Boost Survival Hopes With Impressive Win Over Potters

Goals from Fernando Llorente and Tom Carroll ensured a much-needed win for Swansea City on Saturday afternoon. The relegation-threatened Welsh team put in a determined performance against Stoke City to gain their first win in seven Premier League matches, and give themselves a fighting chance in their quest for survival.

Llorente put the home side in front with an early header and Carroll doubled the Swans’ lead on the 70th minute – only 60 seconds after Potters’ forward Marko Arnautovic blazed his penalty attempt over the bar. 

Victory for the Swans means that Stoke remain winless on the road since January.

The Swans showed an encouraging start to the game as Gylfi Sigurdsson looked to cause panic in a nervy-looking Stoke defence. Only minutes later Llorente gave his side the lead, with the early Swansea pressure paying dividends.

After the Swans had a penalty appeal turned down for an alleged Ryan Shawcross handball – an unmarked Llorente headed home from the resulting corner to end a baron spell of four games without a goal.

Paul Clement’s side continued to impress, showing promising signs in their battle to beat relegation. It took the Potters until the 30th minute of the match to get away their first shot of the game – a Glen Johnson cross was met by Saido Berahino in the six yard box, only to see his header drift well wide of the target. 

Stoke began to grow in confidence after a below par 40 minutes – a tactical switch by Mark Hughes to put Berahino in behind Peter Crouch and Arnautovic proved to be more effective in threatening the Swans defence.

The closing minutes of the half saw both teams presented with fantastic opportunities as Jordan Ayew saw his effort trail agonisingly wide of the goal for the Swans, before Berahino was only able to head his attempt down the throat of Lukasz Fabianski at the opposite end of the pitch.

The home side started the second-half on the front foot, just as they did in the first. Potters’ midfielder Joe Allen gave away an early corner but Peter Crouch was on hand to head away Sigurdsson’s delivery and prevent the Swans from grabbing another set-piece goal.

Mark Hughes looked a frustrated figure on the sidelines as his side struggled to pose any real threat on the Swansea goal, until the Potters were awarded the chance to get back into the game with a penalty.

Xherdan Shaqiri played a one-two with Arnautovic before being bundled to the ground by Federico Fernandez with referee Michael Oliver pointing straight to the spot. Anautovic stepped up to take the penalty but saw his effort sail way over the Swansea bar.

Only a minute later Carroll tried his luck from distance at the other end of the pitch, and saw his effort deflect off former Swans player Allen, before looping over a helpless Jack Butland in to the back of the Stoke net.

Swansea’s second was enough to diminish any signs of a Stoke fightback as frustration from the Stoke players was clear to see. The Potters looked to grab a consolation in the last minute of the game with two corners in quick succession, but the Swans were able to hold on for a vital clean sheet.