Grinding out victories pleases Gylfi

26th December

Gylfi Sigurdsson hailed the Swans' battling qualities after his superb free-kick provided the knockout blow to Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
The Icelandic international struck his 20-yard effort past keeper Brad Guzan to claim back-to-back wins for the Swans following the victory at Hull before Christmas.
Garry Monk's side had to deal with heavy Villa pressure in the second half, with Lukasz Fabianski producing two top-class saves to deny Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor late on.
And Sigurdsson, who also scored a stunning free-kick in the home win over Arsenal last month, believes it was points - not performances - that matter around the festive period.



"I always look at the keeper and see how I feel," he said of his match-winning goal. "(Wilfried) Bony was in the wall and I think he blocked the goalkeeper's view, so I took a chance that he'd make a move for the near post.
"We were a lot better in the first half and we should have scored another goal to finish the game off.
"It wasn't the prettiest of games in the second half. We defended well though, and Fabianski pulled off some fantastic saves near the end.
"To win two games 1-0 on the trot is very important to us. Even though we didn't play our best football in the second half we managed to get a clean sheet and three points.
"If you look at the Tottenham game, we dominated but lost. Sometimes it's about getting the three points and not about how you play."
The Swans now target a third straight win on Monday night when they take on Liverpool at Anfield.
Sigurdsson added: "It would be great to get a third straight win. Liverpool are turning their season around with their recent performances and we know Anfield is a tough place to go.
"But we've grinded out two victories in a row, and we know we can go there and compete with them and hopefully get a good result to maintain our form."