19/10/2014 15:00 v Stoke City

The Swans slipped to defeat against Stoke despite Wilfried Bony's opener from the penalty spot at the Britannia Stadium.

Garry Monk's side dominated the early proceedings as both Gylfi Sigurdsson and Ki Sung-Yueng came close, before Bony gave the visitors the lead after he was fouled by Ryan Shawcross in the box.

Stoke levelled on the stroke of half-time from a controversial penalty of their own as Victor Moses went down while under pressure from Angel Rangel - with Charlie Adam converting from 12 yards.

But it was the home side who grabbed all three points late on as Oussama Assaidi crossed for fellow sub Jonathan Walters to head home.

The Swans started the brighter of the two sides and had a great chance to open the scoring within six minutes.

After neat footwork from Wayne Routledge midway inside the Stoke half, the winger released Sigurdsson in on goal but after taking it round Asmir Begovic the former Spurs man lost his footing and the ball ran for a goal-kick.

The visitors went close again four minutes later as Sigurdsson's backheel found Ki in space but the midfielder's low strike was well saved by the legs of Begovic.

That save proved the catalyst for a swift Stoke counter-attack as Adam surged upfield before seeing his low shot fizz just wide of the left-hand post.

But the Swans were rewarded for their positivity as they took the lead 10 minutes before the break.

From a corner on the right, Bony was wrestled to the ground by Stoke defender Shawcross and referee Michael Oliver had no hesitation in pointing to the spot - and Bony picked himself up to slot home from 12 yards.

However, the two sides went into the interval on level terms as the hosts were awarded a spot-kick of their own on 43 minutes.

After Moses cut in from the left flank, the winger was adjudged to have been fouled by Rangel and Adam converted from the spot.

Neither side made any changes at the break, but it was Stoke who created the first opening of the second period as Adam's low free-kick was blocked before Phil Bardsley fired high and wide.

It was the home side who made their first changes of the game on 61 minutes as Mame Biram Diouf and Stephen Ireland were replaced by Walters and Geoff Cameron.

Stoke then came mightily close to taking the lead as a Moses corner from the left was met by Peter Crouch at the far post but his header cleared the crossbar.

The Swans also made a double change as Nathan Dyer and Tom Carroll made way for Bafetimbi Gomis and Jefferson Montero.

And the changes nearly paid dividends as Gomis flicked on a Sigurdsson free-kick. Ki reacted quickest inside the box, but he couldn't generate enough power in his effort and Begovic saved.

Stoke made their third and final change on 72 minutes as the lively Moses limped off to be replaced by Assaidi.

And it proved to be a key change as Stoke took the lead with 13 minutes to play.

After Crouch and Adam had worked the ball out to Assaidi on the left, the former Liverpool man cut and crossed for Walters to plant a firm header past Fabianski and into the bottom corner.

Marvin Emnes was introduced with five minutes to play in place of Sigurdsson, but the home side held on to move level on points with Swansea in the Premier League table.

 

 

STOKE: Asmir Begovic, Phil Bardsley, Ryan Shawcross (capt), Marc Wilson, Erik Pieters, Steven Nzonzi, Charlie Adam, Mame Biram Diouf (Jonathan Walters, 61), Stephen Ireland (Geoff Cameron, 61), Victor Moses (Oussama Assaidi, 72), Peter Crouch.

SUBS: Thomas Sorensen, Marc Muniesa, Steve Sidwell, Bojan Krkic.

SWANS: Lukasz Fabianski, Angel Rangel, Ashley Williams (capt), Federico Fernandez, Neil Taylor, Ki Sung-Yueng, Tom Carroll (Jefferson Montero, 65), Nathan Dyer (Bafetimbi Gomis, 65), Wayne Routledge, Gylfi Sigurdsson (Marvin Emnes, 85), Wilfried Bony.

SUBS: Gerhard Tremmel, Kyle Bartley, Liam Shephard, Jay Fulton.