Late Llorente winner caps a display full of guts and pride

WHEN the curtain came down on this thrilling Swansea City win, there was a distinct sense we’d seen elements of the plot previously this season.

A last-gasp Fernando Llorente goal giving the home side three points in a game kicking off an important run of fixtures in the battle against the drop. A game which had a frenzied, occasionally crazed feel about it.

In some ways, it felt like that 5-4 win over Crystal Palace at the end of November.

On that occasion it was Bob Bradley being mobbed by his coaching staff after Llorente’s close-range finish salvaged three points in a game for the ages when it came to drama, twists and turns.

This one had its twists and turns too. Not least referee Anthony Taylor’s incredible decision to award Burnley a penalty when their own striker Sam Vokes had handled the ball. Add in Andre Gray putting the visitors on course for a first away win of the season on one of their rare forward forays, after Swansea had hit the woodwork three times, and there was no doubting how surreal it felt.

Yet, for the similarities between those games, this match marked out as much as any other that Swansea City are a very different side under their new boss.

That win over Palace was needlessly dramatic. Swansea had that game bought and paid for at 3-1 up, only to retreat into their shells and ship three goals in nine minutes.

There was unbridled delight when Llorente struck twice to snatch victory that day but, when facing the media after that game the players wore the air of men who felt they had got away with it.

It kicked off that run of games on a winning note but the frailties evident that day were to be ruthlessly punished in the weeks ahead, chances to accumulate points were lost and Bradley paid for it with his job.

This was very, very different and perfectly encapsulated the revival since Clement was appointed.

For one, you never sensed that Swansea felt they were going to finish the game with anything less than three points. Even with an appalling refereeing decision going against them, and a goal totally against the run of play.

Anthony Taylor had been on his stag do last weekend, but it was Swansea who ensured there was no hangover from his blunder.

You could make a case for this being Swansea’s best display of the season. They dominated from start to finish, but showed the character to overcome adversity that had seemed to be lacking during the dark days of autumn.

In fact, you feel that during Bradley’s tenure Swansea would not have recovered from such heavy blows.

Here, belief and determination surged through white shirts. The midfield triumvirate of Jack Cork, Tom Carroll and Leroy Fer were tireless – with the Dutchman turning in perhaps his best display for the club.

Martin Olsson excelled at leftback, the centre-half pairing were solid apart from the odd momentary lapse, Luciano Narsingh had a full debut to be proud of, while Llorente and Gylfi Sigurdsson applied the stardust up top.

Swansea are now five points clear of the drop zone, a statistic that seems barely believable given they were four points from safety at the moment Clement was appointed.

At that time, they were 12 points adrift of Bournemouth, the sides are now level on points. The job is not done yet, as Clement was at pains to point out. He will look no further than Hull on Saturday.

Marco Silva’s side are in desperate need of points following their defeat to Leicester, Swansea must not allow them to clamber off the canvas.

Clement’s touchline dash will be replayed for some time and the 45-year-old seemed slightly embarrassed as he reflected on it postmatch, but it was a representation not just of his excitement but of the pride he felt in the efforts of his players. They had taken the game to Burnley from the off and would have led in the 10th minute had Alfie Mawson’s header not crashed off the bar and his follow-up effort not clanged against the post.

Undeterred, Swansea pressed again and led two minutes later. Fer broke forward purposefully and produced a wonderful cross that Llorente finished with gusto.

The pattern of play pointed to a routine home win, until Taylor intervened eight minutes later.

The debate over video technology will rage on and you cannot argue against its introduction if it prevents glaring errors of this magnitude from occurring.

At this stage of the season these are decisions that can have a very real impact on a club’s destiny. With so much at stake, surely the use of technology makes sense?

Gray tucked away the penalty and Swansea’s burning sense of injustice was only added to when Llorente hit the bar with a cushioned header before the break. Ben Mee made a superb goal-line clearance to deny a clever Sigurdsson shot and when Gray swivelled from a Vokes’ knockdown to make it 2-1, Swansea could have been forgiven for thinking this would not be their day.

Not a bit of it. They kept coming, kept pushing and refused to be denied. Olsson warmed up the crowd after crashing home his shot from Sigurdsson’s wonderful back-heel, and there was bedlam when Llorente soared to head home the winner.

The noise was reminiscent of the Palace game, but the performance was on a completely separate level. This Swansea side is unrecognisable from that of three months ago. A cry of ‘The Jacks Are Staying Up’ rang around at the end, it would be hard for anyone to disagree after this memorable display of pride, character and guts.