Report: Swans 1 Liverpool 0

22nd January
First team

Swansea City earned a huge three points in their battle for Premier League survival as they held on to claim a memorable 1-0 win over Liverpool at the Liberty.

Alfie Mawson scored the only goal of the game in the 40th minute when he swept home following Sam Clucas’ corner, and Carlos Carvalhal’s men withstood a lengthy spell of pressure from the Reds to hold on for a crucial victory.

Liverpool created the better opportunities in the first half and should have broken the deadlock on the half-hour mark when Mohamed Salah drifted in behind the defence to latch onto Virgil van Dijk’s lofted ball, but he could only fire over from inside the area.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain then saw a driven effort well-held by Lukasz Fabianski before the Swans took the lead five minutes before the break.

Clucas’ corner ricocheted off Federico Fernandez into the path of Mawson, who swept the ball into the corner beyond the reach of Loris Karius.

The Reds responded and squandered a great opportunity to equalise as Salah broke away on the counter before crossing for an unmarked Sadio Mane, who could only volley wide from close range.

Jurgen Klopp’s men were on an 18-match unbeaten run and continued to threaten in the second half.

Kyle Naughton was forced to make a vital last-ditch interception to deny Andrew Robertson, while Fabianski did brilliantly to tip Salah’s dipping free-kick over the bar.

Liverpool maintained their pressure until deep into stoppage time when Roberto Firmino's header came back off the post, but the Swans held on for a magnificent victory and crucial three points in their fight for Premier League survival.

Swans: Lukasz Fabianski, Mike van der Hoorn, Federico Fernandez (capt), Alfie Mawson, Kyle Naughton, Ki Sung-Yueng, Leroy Fer, Sam Clucas, Martin Olsson, Nathan Dyer (Tom Carroll, 64), Jordan Ayew (Wilfried Bony, 79).

Subs not used: Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Kyle Bartley, Roque Mesa, Luciano Narsingh, Oli McBurnie.

Liverpool: Loris Karius, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, Emre Can (capt), Georginio Wijnaldum (Danny Ings, 73), Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Adam Lallana, 68), Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino.

Subs not used: Simon Mignolet, Ragnar Klavan, Trent Alexander-Arnold, James Milner, Dominic Solanke.