League survival with a 2-0 victory at relegated
Sunderland on Saturday.
The win moved Paul Clement's impressive side
four points clear of third-bottom Hull City, who will
slip into the Championship if they lose at fellow
strugglers Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Sunderland won 2-0 at Hull last weekend but a
similar result never appeared likely as the Welsh
side cruised relatively untroubled to their fourth
away win of the season.
Gylfi Sigurdsson was at the heart of most of
Swansea's best moments and he supplied the free-
kick from which Fernando Llorente nodded in after
nine minutes with Kyle Naughton thundering home
a second mere seconds before the break.
Sunderland had hoped to give the likes of Jermain
Defoe and Jordan Pickford a rousing send-off on
what was likely to be their final home appearances
in red and white before they seek pastures new at
the end of the season but, instead, David Moyes'
men turned in another abject performance that
displayed exactly why they prop up the top flight.
Repeated chants of "we want Moyes out" echoed
around the Stadium of Light as if to demonstrate
the frustrations of the Wearside faithful with
another spell of upheaval on the agenda between
now and August.
Despite the backdrop of dissatisfaction, Sunderland
started the brighter, Didier Ndong firing wide when
well placed on the right side of the box.
But Swansea gradually gained a foothold and took
the lead in the ninth minute courtesy of their star
attacking duo.
Sigurdsson, the player with the most Premier
League assists in 2017, whipped in a wonderful
free-kick from the right and Llorente rose above an
uncharacteristically hesitant Pickford to nod into
the unguarded net.
Sigurdsson tested Pickford with another free-kick
nine minutes later as Swansea continued to boss
proceedings, much to the irritation of the bulk of
the 38,781 fans in attendance.
Defoe saw a half-chance snuffed out by Swansea
goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski after 35 minutes but
it was a fleeting moment of hope for the home
supporters, who saw Swansea double their lead
before the break.
Sunderland had several opportunities to clear their
lines but dithering defending enabled former Black
Cats loanee Ki Sung-yueng to gain possession in
midfield and he brilliantly threaded the ball through
to Naughton to fire home his first Premier League
goal with the final kick of the first half.
Swansea were content to sit back in the second
period and it almost backfired as Sunderland
threatened sporadically to make a game of it.
The hosts ought to have had a penalty after 58
minutes with referee Andre Marriner inexplicably
failing to spot Sigurdsson blocking Sebastian
Larsson's free-kick with his outstretched arm.
And, three minutes later, full-back Billy Jones
somehow shot wide from close range after
Fabianski had pushed substitute Wahbi Khazri's
free-kick back into a dangerous area.
Khazri could easily have been dismissed for a
needless stamp on Sigurdsson - Marriner deeming
it only worthy of a booking - but it was a rare
moment of fight from Sunderland as Swansea
cruised to a win that puts them firmly in the driving
seat in the battle to beat the drop.
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