Swansea City have won their first match since the opening day of the season courtesy of a thrilling 5-4 victory over fellow strugglers Crystal Palace at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon.
First-half goals from Wilfried Zaha and Gylfi Sigurdsson sent the two sides into the break all square before a frantic final 35 minutes produced seven goals and two comebacks as Swansea eventually claimed all three points from a topsy-turvy affair.
The home side led 3-1 with just 15 minutes remaining before falling 4-3 behind, only to then score twice in stoppage time themselves to condemn the Eagles to a sixth consecutive defeat.
The poor form of both sides could have resulted in a cagey affair, but that couldn't have been further from the truth and it took just six minutes for the first clear chance to arrive when Christian Benteke blazed his shot over the crossbar after the ball had bounced kindly into his path from a corner.
The Swans, who had scored a joint league-low five home goals from six games heading into this match, struggled to threaten in the opening stages but did soon settle into the game, and Sigurdsson was the first to come close for the home side when he could only scuff Modou Barrow's cutback into the arms of the keeper.
Just as Bob Bradley's side were beginning to look the most likely, though, Palace took the lead when Benteke flicked the ball on to Zaha, who held off the challenges of Neil Taylor and Federico Fernandez while turning in the box before drilling his finish past Lukasz Fabianski.
Wayne Hennessey then collected a deflected Leroy Fer effort from range before Connor Wickham - in for Andros Townsend - tested Fabianski at the other end with a header towards the bottom corner from Martin Kelly's cross.
Swansea did find the equaliser with just under 10 minutes remaining of the half, though, and it was the in-form Sigurdsson who got it as he nestled his free kick perfectly into the corner from just outside the penalty area.
Palace were inches away from restoring their lead just a minute later, though, as Yohan Cabaye beat Fabianski to the ball before standing a cross up for Zaha, who rose highest in the area and planted his header against the crossbar. Both Benteke and Wickham attempted to get on the end of the rebound, but the forwards got in each other's way and a glorious chance went begging.
It was Swansea who ended the first half on top as they went in search of a second goal before the interval, but Wayne Routledge and Barrow both failed to hit the target with half-volleys from inside the penalty area.
The hosts also began the second half brightly, with Sigurdsson whipping a free kick into the arms of Hennessey before Routledge sliced an effort wide of the near post after being gifted possession by Scott Dann.
Swansea did take the lead shortly after the hour mark, however, as Fernando Llorente's first touch after coming on as a sub was a header that Cabaye stopped on the line, but the Frenchman could not complete his clearance and Fer reacted quickest to tuck the ball home from close range.
Fer added a second in as many minutes to put his side seemingly on course for their first win under Bradley, once again poking the ball in at the back post after Palace had failed to deal with a Sigurdsson set piece.
However, the drama was far from over in South Wales and Palace began their comeback with 15 minutes remaining when James McArthur managed to turn Dann's downward header into the path of James Tomkins, who nudged the ball over the line from close range to reduce the deficit to one.
Swansea, who conceded an 89th-minute equaliser last week to prolong their wait for a victory, would have been forgiven for believing that their luck was out when Palace levelled things up with only eight minutes remaining as Jack Cork attempted to cut out Zaha's cross into the box but only succeeded in sending a looping header over a helpless Fabianski and into the far corner.
If that equaliser felt like a hammer blow then things would get even worse before they got better for Bradley, who saw his side fall behind just two minutes later courtesy of yet another scrappy set-piece goal, this time Benteke firing home via the post from Dann's knockdown.
It seemed as though Palace's remarkable 10-minute comeback would be enough to halt their own dreadful spell of form, but an earlier injury to Wickham resulted in seven added minutes, and Swansea made full use of them to provide a final twist in the tale.
Llorente was the hero as, for the third occasion in the match, two goals went in in the space of two minutes, with the Spaniard first getting the final touch to Sigurdsson's low drive just moments after seeing a downward header well kept out by Hennessey.
Fittingly for a match that had already seen five goals come via set pieces, the winner also arrived through that route as once again Palace failed to deal with Sigurdsson's delivery, allowing Fernandez to turn the ball back into the path of Llorente, who swept his finish home to cap off a remarkable nine-goal thriller in South Wales.
The victory lifts Swansea back above Sunderland into 19th in the table, now only two points adrift of safety courtesy of their first win under Bradley and their first home win of the season, becoming the final Premier League outfit to pick up maximum points in front of their own fans.
Palace, meanwhile, have now lost six league games on the bounce for the first time since November 2013 to remain 16th in the table and now only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.
Barney Corkhill
