- Swansea led through Fer
- Firmino equalized
- Milner nets late PK
- Klopp’s side win fourth-straight
This is the kind of win a title contender grinds out. Liverpool beat a spirited Swansea City 2-1 at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday as Jurgen Klopp’s side fought back from 1-0 down to win it late on.
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Leroy Fer opened the scoring for Swansea in the first half but Roberto Firmino equalized in the second and then James Milner’s late spot kick sealed the comeback win for the Reds.
With the victory Liverpool has now won four-straight Premier League games and has five victories in its opening seven encounters with 16 points on the board, while Swansea’s manager Guidolin is under more pressure as his side have now lost five of their last six and only have four points this season.
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After a positive start the Swans took the lead in the eighth minute as a corner from the left was nodded back into danger by Borja Baston and Fer bundled home his fourth PL goal of the season. 1-0 to Swansea.
Swansea were buoyed by that early goal and continued to press Liverpool high with Fer smashing over and Jack Cork couldn’t quite hook his effort goalwards. Adam Lallana hobbled off with a groin injury midway through the first half and was replaced by Daniel Sturridge.
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Borja then headed wide from Gylfi Sigurdsson’s delightful free kick as Swansea missed a glorious opportunity to double their lead. At the other end Sturridge went down in the box under a challenge from Wayne Routledge but instead of a penalty being awarded he was booked for simulation. Upon seeing the replay it looked like referee Michael Oliver had made the right decision.
Jordi Amat then saved Swansea as a bad giveaway let in Sadio Mane but the Spanish defender came from nowhere to block Mane’s effort at the last minute.
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Liverpool started the second half well with Firmino forcing Lukasz Fabianski into a save, then Mane rolled an effort goalwards which Swansea hacked to safety. Klopp’s side continued to press for an equalizer and it arrived after 55 minutes.
28 - Liverpool have now scored more away goals in 2016 than any other Premier League side. Update. pic.twitter.com/VazbJE6Vzo
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 1, 2016
Philippe Coutinho’s free kick was blocked but Jordan Henderson’s cross then found Firmino who beat the offside trap to glance home a header. 1-1. Soon after Coutinho curled a fine effort just wide as Klopp drove his team on from the sidelines.
[ MORE: Full lineups, stats, box score ]
Liverpool looked increasingly dangerous but Swans, much to their credit, dug deep and battled for under-fire boss Guidolin. Lorus Karius flapped out a corner in the closing stages as Swansea tried to nick a late winner but just when it looked like both teams had to settle for a point Swansea conceded a penalty kick as Angel Rangel tripped Firmino in the box.
Milner clipped home the spot kick to put Liverpool 2-1 up and they survived a late scare as Mike van der Hoorn somehow knocked wide from close range to seal a fourth-straight win in the Premier League.
