Report | Swansea City 1 West Bromwich Albion 0
Jay Fulton’s stunning late strike saw Swansea City record a fourth home win in a row and kick-off 2026 with victory over West Bromwich Albion at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Swans stalwart Fulton, not long on as a substitute, produced the decisive moment of a hard-fought contest when he made the most of a fine tackle by Ronald to set himself and find the far corner of the net with 16 minutes to play.
Vitor Matos’ side had shown the greater attacking intent for much of the game – aside from a brief flurry of West Brom opportunities not long after the hour mark – with Melker Widell, Zeidane Inoussa and Marko Stamenic all threatening.
At the other end Lawrence Vigouroux made a trio of fine saves to deny Karlan Grant (twice) and Mikey Johnston as the Swans kept a fourth clean sheet in their last seven games.
For the visitors it was a 30th defeat on New Year’s Day, the most suffered by any team in the EFL. It was also a ninth away defeat in a row.
Swansea showed four changes from the win at Oxford as Josh Key, Malick Yalcouye, Goncalo Franco and Ronald came into the team, with Ethan Galbraith, Fulton, Zan Vipotnik and Jisung Eom among the substitutes.
Widell was employed as a false nine, and his energy helped the home side make the better start to the contest.
Stamenic forced Joe Wildsmith to tip his rising strike over the bar after excellent work by Zeidane Inoussa and Yalcouye.
West Brom took time to adjust but produced one threatening counter that required Key to clear a Samuel Iling-Junior cross, before Ousmane Diakite fired straight at Vigouroux.
Key and Ronald then nearly picked out Widell arriving in the box, but George Campbell was alert and cut out the final pass.
Josh Tymon sent a free-kick into Wildsmith’s gloves after Ronald had been hacked down by Callum Style on the edge of the box, before Vigouroux pushed a fierce Iling-Junior shot wide of the goal.
Swansea created the best opening yet just before the interval, Inoussa’s pace saw the winger escape three defenders and lay off for Widell, but his strike was quickly shut down by a host of yellow and green shirts.
It remained goalless at the break but Swansea continued to be the more side with the more positive intent and Matos turned to Eom and Vipotnik 10 minutes after the break as Widell and Inoussa made way.
Galbraith nearly got on the end of a Ronald lay-off after lovely play by Yalcouye and Tymon on the left had opened up a switch of play.
Skipper Cabango then headed a Tymon corner onto the roof of the net but Albion responded, with Vigouroux having to make two good saves in quick succession to deny Karlan Grant.
From that base the visitors then enjoyed a succession of corners and Swansea were relieved to see Vigouroux fall on a loose ball after Grant’s shot had taken a deflection that looked set to allow Diakite to turn home.
The Swansea keeper then did superbly to push away a form header from Johnston as West Brom enjoyed their best spell of the game.
The hosts managed to lift the pressure and Vipotnik volleyed over after a good run and clever cross from Galbraith.
And they took the lead when more excellent pressing work from Ronald saw the ball break for Fulton, who took a touch before sending a fantastic strike beyond Wildsmith and into the far corner.
Swansea nearly doubled their lead when a quick counter set Bobby Wales running into space, but the young striker’s shot was blocked.
Vipotnik had a chance to seal all three points when another break saw Franco set him up, but the keeper did well to parry away his firm strike.
Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux; Josh Key (Ethan Galbraith 46), Ben Cabango (captain), Cameron Burgess, Josh Tymon; Marko Stamenic, Goncalo Franco, Malick Yalcouye (Jay Fulton 71); Melker Widell (Zan Vpiotnik 56), Ronald (Bobby Wales 81), Zeidane Inoussa (Jisung Eom 56).
Unused Substitutes: Andy Fisher, Ishe Samuels-Smith, Kaelan Casey, Sam Parker.
West Bromwich Albion: Joe Wildsmith, Nathaniel Phillips, Callum Styles, George Campbell, Karlan Grant, Mikey Johnston, Ousmane Diakite, Aune Heggebo (Josh Maja 60), Samuel Iling-Junior (Isaac Price 80), Alex Mowatt (captain) (Jayson Molumby 60), Charlie Taylor (Daryl Dike 87).
Unused Substitutes: Josh Griffiths, Chris Mepham, Krystian Bielik, Oliver Bostock, Noah Dupont.
Referee: James Linington
Attendance: 17,416