Bony help Swansea pick up vital win against West Brom

Swansea City hauled themselves off the bottom of the Premier League table as captain Wilfried Bony’s emphatic late finish gave them a precious win over West Brom to ease the pressure on head coach Paul Clement.

The out-of-form sides seemed paralysed by tension in a first half almost entirely devoid of any meaningful action until the visitors’ Jake Livermore headed against his own post.

Swansea tried admirably to raise the tempo after the interval, with Ivory Coast striker Bony inspiring his side with a determined run and shot that was narrowly wide.

The hosts’ search for a winner seemed set to end in vain but with nine minutes left a loose ball from a corner fell invitingly for Bony, who blasted it through a crowd of bodies to earn the Swans a first victory since October.

They would however have remained bottom had Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke not had his last-minute penalty saved in the Eagles’ 2-2 draw with Bournemouth.

Swansea are now a point behind West Brom and safety, providing a huge lift to Clement, whose position had been under intense scrutiny of late.

This was West Brom’s 14th Premier League game without victory and consigned manager Alan Pardew to a first defeat in his second game in charge.

Pressure on Clement eases

December has been an unhappy month for Swansea managers in recent years, with Bob Bradley sacked this time last year and Garry Monk shown the door 12 months earlier.

Former Bayern Munich assistant manager Clement was on thin ice himself, having collected just one point from his previous seven Premier League games.

In the days leading up to the game he defiantly insisted he was the man to transform Swansea’s fortunes, having done so last season with a remarkable escape from relegation.

But this campaign has largely been a tale of misery, with the most damning statistic perhaps the fact the Swans had lost more matches (10) than they had scored goals (eight) in 15 Premier League fixtures.

Their 27 shots on target from 15 league matches was at least 10 fewer than any other team in Europe’s top five divisions and a turgid start to this encounter suggested at further limited action.

Their best effort in the first half came when Alfie Mawson headed narrowly over from close range.

There was more urgency to Swansea’s display in the second half, with Bony’s low drive wide and Jordan Ayew’s effort saved by Ben Foster giving the agitated home supporters reason to believe their side might be able to force a first win since October.

Their perseverance paid dividends as Bony clinically pounced on a loose ball in the West Brom penalty area to revive Swansea hopes of surviving another season in the top flight.

Pardew’s Baggies underwhelm

On his last visit to the Liberty Stadium a little over a year ago, Pardew’s Crystal Palace team were beaten 5-4 by a Swansea side managed by American Bradley in a wildly entertaining encounter.

That brilliant chaos could not have been in more stark contrast to this match, which was an undercooked suet pudding of a spectacle.

If his predecessor Tony Pulis was watching, he would have been forgiven for feeling aggrieved about his sacking, considering his pragmatic brand of football was believed to be one of the contributing factors to his departure.

Pardew promised to “free up” the West Brom side when he was appointed but there was little evidence of a more expansive outlook in Wales.

The Baggies offered next to no attacking threat at the Liberty Stadium, their best chance falling to Salomon Rondon, who headed over the bar shortly after the visitors had fallen behind.

That was the visitors’ best opportunity to equalise and indeed West Brom might have found themselves 2-0 down had Tammy Abraham not chipped his injury-time chance wide.

That scoreline might have flattered the hosts but they deserved their victory having shown far more attacking intent in an encounter few neutrals will remember.