- Fernandez scores rare goal
- A howler for USMNT’s Guzan
- Testy affair all but dooms Villa
Brad Guzan’s decisive error helped Federico Fernandez score his first league goal in three years, and Swansea City made its Premier League survival fairly certain with a 1-0 win at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.
Swans moved eight points clear of 17th place Norwich City and 11 ahead of Sunderland in the race for safety, while Aston Villa is now 12 points back of Norwich with seven matches to play.
[ MORE: Watch full match replays ]
Villa was strong in the first stages of the match, perhaps unshackled by the near certainty of their Premier League relegation.
And intensity was on tap, as Ashley Williams tangled with Rudy Gestede after a foul around 20 minutes into the match. The two shoved and there was even hand-to-face contact without a yellow given by Mike Dean.
[ MORE: Latest Premier League standings ]12 - Aston Villa have made more errors leading to goals in the Premier League this season than any other side (12). Flappy.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 19, 2016
[ MORE: Full lineups, stats, box score ]
Aly Cissokho was on a yellow card and held back Mo Barrow. He didn’t get a second yellow, but the foul allowed Swansea to take a dangerous free kick. That’s when Guzan made a horrible error in judgment, and Fernandez headed home. Poor, poor goalkeeping from the USMNT veteran.
