Swansea City beat Southampton 1-0 at St. Mary's on Sunday thanks to Jonjo Shelvey's stunning 25 yard strike fired in the 83rd minute. The former Liverpool midfielder had already hit the post before he sent a fierce shot, past a despairing England international Fraser Forster. The Swans defeated the Saints for the first time in 62 years!
Both teams were eager to win the match after FA Cup exits and initially the Saints looked more likely to score in the opening exchanges. They had the large share of possessions and waves of attacks on Fabianski's goal in the first half, but struggled to turn their dominance into points.
The hosts remained dominant in possession in the second half, but the only strike of note came from their youngster James Ward-Prowse, who saw his shot saved well by Fabianski, 29, with his feet. There was a slight change of momentum as the hosts were very nearly dealt a blow when Jonjo Shelvey's stunning low strike hit the post, but the 23-year-old Swansea midfielder made no mistake later on when he scored from distance.
From then on, Southampton surged forward in search of an equaliser but were unable to breach Swansea's well organised defence, mastered by their captain Ashley Williams who displayed a superlative performance. Senegalese forward Saido Mane was twice denied by brilliant goal - line clearances by the Swans skipper, who was awarded with man-of-the-match.
England and Saint's right-back Nathaniel Clyne, 23, who has been the subject of reports linking him to Manchester United, demonstrated a good performance and looked enthusiastic. However, Southampton's hopes to equalise were cut short in the 89th minute, when Chelsea loanee left-back Ryan Bertrand, 25, was sent off after a late challenge on Modou Barrow, 22, and the team was left to play with 10 men.
Their Championship League hopes took a hit, as they had the chance to displace Manchester United in third place in the league. However, the Saints remain in the fourth with Arsenal in fifth, albeit on goal difference following the Gunners 5-0 victory over Aston Villa.
Swansea climb a place into ninth and become just the third visiting side this season to leave St. Mary's with all three points.
