Swansea City boosted in survival fight with victory over Stoke City

Swansea City have claimed a battling 2-0 win over Stoke City at the Liberty Stadium to give their hopes of Premier League survival a huge boost.

The hosts began brightly and were ahead after just 10 minutes, Gylfi Sigurdsson's corner falling neatly to the unmarked Fernando Llorente, who leapt up and headed past returning goalkeeper Jack Butland.

The England stopper, making his first start since March 2016, almost gifted the Swans a second soon after but Leroy Fer could not take advantage, and the latter had to be withdrawn after taking a knock against the Potters custodian.

There was a flurry of action just before the break as Ki Sung-yueng played Jordan Ayew through on goal, but the Ghana international fired across the face of goal, while at the other end, Saido Berahino headed straight at Lukasz Fabianski.

Stoke were handed a reprieve in the 70th minute when Federico Fernandez clumsily brought down Xherdan Shaqiri in the box, prompting referee Michael Oliver to award a penalty.

However, Marko Arnautovic blasted his spot kick over the bar, and from the restart, Swansea went on to score a second as Tom Carroll fired an ambitious shot that looped into the top-left corner after taking a heavy deflection off Joe Allen.

Despite their win, Swansea remain 18th in the table as 17th-placed Hull City claimed a 2-0 win over Watford on the same day, while Stoke sit 11th in the standings.