Swansea take big step towards safety with win at Sunderland
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ByEurosport
Updated 13/05/2017 at 16:19 GMT
Premier League, Stadium of Light - Sunderland 0 Swansea City 2 (Llorente 9, Naughton 45)
Paul Clement, Manager of Swansea City shows appreciation to the fans after the Premier League match between Sunderland and Swansea City
Image credit: Getty Images
Swansea City may well have secured their Premier League status with a 2-0 win at Sunderland, opening up a four-point gap on Hull.
If Hull lose against Crystal Palace on Sunday then the Tigers will join Sunderland and Middlesbrough in being relegated, with Swansea surviving a chaotic season which has seen them cycle through three managers.
Fernando Llorente opened the scoring inside 10 minutes, heading home a Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick which Jordan Pickford came for but got nowhere near.
Kyle Naughton then doubled the lead on the stroke of half time with his first ever Premier League goal. The right-back fired into the top corner from a tight angle after being afforded far too much space by the home defence.
Sunderland struggled to test Lukasz Fabianski in the Swansea goal and demonstrated why they are already down, with the home fans booing their side off at full-time while the visitors relished in moving closer to another season in the Premier League.
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Swansea City's Fernando Llorente celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates
Image credit: Reuters
TALKING POINT
Swansea almost safe. On paper, relegated Sunderland should have been easy opponents for the Swans and that’s the way it turned out, but having seen them beat Hull last weekend Swansea fans would be forgiven for being nervous about this match. With Hull now two points behind them, and facing two tough matches against relegation rivals Crystal Palace and then Tottenham, Swansea may well have done enough already. Paul Clement: job done (almost).
MAN OF THE MATCH
Kyle Naughton (Swansea). The Swans didn’t have to be at their best to win and didn’t create many chances, having only three shots all game, but they were clinical and that extended to Naughton, who marked his 141st Premier League match with a first goal. He offered his side a reliable outlet going forward down the right whilst also staying resolute in defence.
PLAYER RATINGS
Sunderland: Pickford 5, Jones 5, O’Shea 5, Kone 6, Manquillo 6, Denayer 5, Ndong 6, Larsson 5, Borini 5, Anichebe 5, Defoe 5. Subs: Gibson 5, Khazri 5.
Swansea City: Fabianski 7, Naughton 7, Fernandez 6, Mawson 6, Olsson 6, Britton 6, Carroll 6, Ki 6, Ayew 6, Sigurdsson 6, Llorente 7. Subs: Fer 6, Cork 6, Narsingh 5.
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Swansea City's Kyle Naughton celebrates scoring their second goal
Image credit: Reuters
KEY MOMENTS
6’ – CHANCE! Pinball in the Swansea area results in the ball breaking for Ndong, 12 yards from goal, however he slices wide.
9’ – GOAL! Sunderland 0-1 Swansea (Llorente). Sigurdsson puts a free-kick from midfield into the box, Pickford comes but doesn't get near the ball and amongst a crowd Llorente has a simple header with which he opens the scoring.
45+2’ – GOAL! Sunderland 0-2 Swansea (Naughton). Ki finds Naughton in space on the right and he enters the penalty area before rifling into the top corner from a tight angle. Surely game over.
57’ – PENALTY APPEAL! Sunderland are awarded a free-kick 20 yards from goal which Larsson cannons into the wall - or more specifically Sigurdsson's arm - but no penalty is given. Swansea got away with one there, although Sigurdsson is saying he was pushed by O'Shea.
69’ – CHANCE! Fabianski makes a real mess of what looked like a simple enough free-kick to deal with from Khazri, parrying the ball into the danger area, but the onrushing Jones shoots wide from less than ten yards out. That's a sitter.
KEY STATS
- Llorente has scored seven headed goals this Premier League campaign – more than any other player.
- Sunderland have won only one of their last 10 meetings with Swansea.
- The Black Cats are winless in their last ten home league games and possess the division’s worst home record.
- Swansea hadn’t kept a clean sheet on the road since their first game of the Premier League season.
THE MATCH IN A TWEET
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