It is amazing what a shot of confidence can do for a team. Seemingly resigned to relegation at the end of December, Swansea City signed off January with a third victory in four Premier League matches to continue their upward momentum under Paul Clement and give their survival chances another huge boost.
Swansea remain only one place above the relegation zone, yet crucially they are now level on points with Middlesbrough and Leicester City, the two clubs immediately above them, in a survival battle that is growing in numbers. The key for Swansea is that they are the form side in the bottom six and playing with the sort of courage, spirit and belief that was so badly lacking prior to Clement’s arrival as manager.
They also have an outstanding individual in Gylfi Sigurdsson, whose impressive performance against Southampton underlined once again why he is so invaluable to this Swansea side. Sigurdsson created the first goal, which Alfie Mawson headed in at the near post via a deflection off Oriol Romeu, and later scored the winner, just as he did at Anfield 10 days earlier.
The Icelander has now been involved directly in 14 Premier League goals this season, scoring seven and setting up another seven, and life without him is unthinkable for Swansea. The fact that Sigurdsson’s goal here was set up by Luciano Narsingh, who made his debut as a second-half substitute, gave Clement additional satisfaction at the end of a match that finished with the manager clenching his fist in the air.
There was relief as well as euphoria in that celebration after Southampton laid siege to the Swansea goal in the final 15 minutes. Claude Puel was unable to conceal his frustration at times as he jumped around on the touchline, exasperated with the opportunities that went begging on an evening when Southampton were entitled to feel that they deserved a point.
Shane Long’s equaliser, following a flowing move down the Southampton left early in the second half, shifted the balance of the game in the visitors’ favour as they began to attack with more conviction. Yet it was Sigurdsson, with a low left-footed volley from Narsingh’s cross, who delivered the defining moment in the match to give Swansea back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time this season.
“The equalising goal was a blow, but the players responded well, kept their spirit and kept their confidence and scored a really good goal on the counterattack,” Clement said. “After that we were under a lot of pressure, a lot of balls coming into our box, which on the whole we dealt with very well. So it was a mixed performance but a massive, massive result to back up what we did against Liverpool.:
Clement acknowledged Sigurdsson’s contribution, with and without the ball. “He’s a fantastic deliverer of set-plays, he really works at that so credit to him, and it was a wonderful finish from Narsingh’s pass,” Swansea’s manager said. “The ball was a little behind Gylfi but he twisted well and finished with a lot of quality. But I would also like to commend him on his work ethic defensively. People ask me whether he’s alright playing out on the left and say he likes to play centrally. I’ve never had that conversation with him. He’s just done exactly what I’ve asked him to do.”
It was Sigurdsson’s corner kick that Mawson headed home, via Romeu and the inside of the near post, to put Swansea ahead in the 38th minute. Although Southampton had started well and controlled the first 10 minutes, Swansea’s opening goal was coming after a bright spell from the home team. Fraser Forster saved well from Leroy Fer and also denied Sigurdsson.
The question was how a Southampton side that was unrecognisable from the one that lined up against Arsenal in the FA Cup on Saturday – Puel made eight changes – would react in the second half. A slick goal just before the hour mark provided the answer. Steven Davis fed Ryan Bertrand with a measured pass in the space that opened up on the Southampton left, and the England international’s excellent low centre was turned in by Long, who did not have to break his stride.
Nathan Redmond then wasted a decent chance before drawing a fingertip save from Lukasz Fabianski as Southampton pressed for a second goal. Indeed it was a Southampton corner that led to Swansea’s winner as Fernando Llorente headed clear and Tom Carroll released Narsingh over the top. The substitute’s pass left Sigurdsson with plenty of work still to do but he wrapped his left foot around the ball and steered it beyond Forster, into the far corner of the net.
