Match Analysis: Swansea City 1-2 Everton

Everton moved into the Champions League places on Sunday as they earned a 2-1 win over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.

Seamus Coleman opened the scoring for the visitors on 65 minutes with a fierce long-range drive before Dwight Tiendalli bundled in an equaliser for Swansea soon after.

However, Ross Barkley sealed the points for Everton when he curled a superb free kick into the top corner with just seven minutes left on the clock in the Premier League encounter.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the action between the two teams in South Wales.

Match statistics:

Swansea: Shots 13 On target 3 Possession 55% Corners 4 Fouls 11

Everton: Shots 14 On target 6 Possession 45% Corners 8 Fouls 10

Was the result fair?

While there was little to separate the sides during the first half, Everton turned the screw after the break with some dynamic attacking play and came away with a deserved victory.

Swansea's performance

The one area that ultimately cost Michael Laudrup's team was their finishing. Swansea enjoyed plenty of the ball throughout what was a possession-heavy game, but some poor shooting and decision-making in the final third contributed significantly to their downfall. However, the Dane will be pleased with how his players went toe-to-toe with Everton for large parts of the match as they battled hard in midfield and made the visitors work for any openings in front of goal.

Everton's performance

There was not much to shout about for the Toffees in terms of their first-half display as they looked turgid and uninspired going forward. That all changed in the second half, though, thanks to some direct, incisive play in the opposition half. Ross Barkley, Steven Pienaar, Seamus Coleman and Bryan Oviedo all linked up well, while Romelu Lukaku gave the Swansea defence plenty to think about. The result and statistics may suggest that it was a close match, but anything other than an Everton win would have been an injustice.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Ross Barkley: Not only did the Everton midfielder score a wonderful winner for his side, but his showing in midfield was excellent yet again. He hustled with lots of energy when his side was out of possession while also making his trademark runs forward when on the ball.

Biggest gaffe

Everton had a decent chance to take the lead in the first half as Kevin Mirallas was gifted the ball by Chico Flores deep in Swansea territory. However, the Belgian fired a tame shot towards goal when he had plenty of teammates in better positions around him.

Referee performance

Lee Mason gave a competent display in the middle, doing his best to allow the game to flow between two slick, passing sides.

What next?

Swansea: The Swans return to Premier League action on Boxing Day when they take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Everton: The Toffees continue their Premier League campaign on Boxing Day at home to Sunderland.