- Llorente powers win
- Swansea a point ahead of Hull
- Everton remains 7th on 58 points
Swansea City picked up a gutsy 1-0 win over visiting Everton at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday to move out of the drop zone for the first time in a month.
Fernando Llorente’s first half goal was enough for Swansea to take advantage of Hull City’s loss to Sunderland.
Everton is goalless in three-straight Premier League matches.
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A Swansea City counter snapped the match to life as Jordan Ayew led the rush and Tom Davies chopped him down. Lined up centrally about 35 yards out, Gylfi Sigurdsson chipped the ball directly to Joel Robles.
Sigurdsson thought he’d won a penalty in the 29th minute, but Martin Atkinson resisted the home shouts. That was fine for Swansea, as Llorente used that famous head to make it 1-0 within moments.
Alfie Mawson thought he’d made it 2-0 at the back door when young Mason Holgate made a terrific back post tackle to keep the deficit at one.
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A fan has invaded the pitch and given Lukaku a hug.
— Neil Jones (@neiljonesgoal) May 6, 2017
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Everton looked a little brighter in the second half, but Swansea still produced the better chances. Ayew hit a ball off the post in the 55th minute that would’ve sent the Liberty Stadium to the moon.
Llorente headed a corner toward the back post, but Maarten Stekelenburg dove right to catch it.
Everton had a chance to make it 1-1 when Davies sent a bar to Mirallas that Swansea battled to clear.
Another chance came from substitute Leroy Fer, who raced onto Tom Carroll’s left-footed cross to fire a fine shot that Stekelenburg knocked out for a corner.
The final 10-15 minutes were all about Everton, but desperate Swansea was in on every block, tackle, and loose ball. Substitute Ross Barkley and Kevin Mirallas were especially dangerous without finish, while Romelu Lukaku belted a ball off the outside of the netting.