Week 24 of the English Premier League ends with an unlikely win in South Wales for bottom of the table Swansea against Man City slayers Liverpool.
Swansea 1 v 0 Liverpool
A friend of mine once had a fight with a Swan. He was trying to steal an egg. A criminal offence carrying the penalty of death, or something like that. He never got the egg. The Swan kicked his arse.
Imagine what 11 of them can do if they are organised, well-drilled and have 22 eyes firmly set on the enemy?
Liverpool landed at the Liberty Stadium on a miserable Monday night looking to make the masses millions on their football coupons. Unbeaten in 18 matches, the slayers of City and facing a team six points adrift of safety – this was a banker.
And yet, Carlos Carvalhal, the man with the most tenuous position in Premier League football, had only lost once since replacing Paul Clement at the helm of a body of players fitted with rubber nappies and dummies.
There was hope.
There was a game plan.
The former Sheffield Wednesday boss likened Liverpool to a Formula 1 car and reminded his players that it doesn’t matter how much grace and power you have, you aren’t going to get far if you’re stuck in traffic.
So Swansea put up the cones and challenged Liverpool to get through.
Two days before, Brighton reverted to a back three and filled up the middle of the park in a bid to stop Chelsea’s free-flowing football. The London club responded by firing four past them. Swansea had the same gameplan, but the result was entirely different.
Alfie Mawson, Federico Fernandez and Mike van der Hoorn played their hearts out. And it was Mawson who grabbed the winning goal, five minutes before the break, capitalising on a mistake from Virgil van Dijk to smash the ball into the back of the net.
Swansea fans had been fed TV dinners all season. On Monday night they were handed a feast. The celebrations were so frantic; so frenetic, that Fernandez ended up with a broken nose. Passion? It’s here. You just have to find it.
After losing eight games in a row against the six best sides in the country, conceding 25 goals, it was still the perfect moment to lay the Welsh team at half time. And Liverpool had chances, including Roberto Firmino striking a post in injury time. But Swansea held on, and now move level on points with West Brom, and three points from safety.
Here are the results in full:
Results in Full
Brighton 0 v 4 Chelsea
West Ham 1 v 1 Bournemouth
Everton 1 v 1 West Brom
Burnley 0 v 1 Man Utd
Leicester 2 v 0 Watford
Stoke 2 v 0 Huddersfield
Arsenal 4 v 1 Crystal Palace
Man City 3 v 1 Newcastle
Southampton 1 v 1 Spurs
Swansea 1 v 0 Liverpool
Premier League Table
1. Man City – 65
2. Man Utd – 53
3. Chelsea – 50
4. Liverpool – 47
5. Spurs – 45
6. Arsenal – 42
7. Leicester – 34
8. Burnley – 34
9. Everton – 28
10. Watford – 26
11. West Ham – 26
12. Bournemouth – 25
13. Crystal Palace – 25
14. Huddersfield – 24
15. Newcastle -23
16. Brighton – 23
17. Stoke – 23
18. Southampton – 22
19. West Brom – 20
20. Swansea – 20
Premier League Winning Odds (Courtesy of Bodog)
Man City 1/50
Man Utd 50/1
Premier League Relegation Odds
Swansea 1/2
Huddersfield 6/5
West Brom 11/8
Brighton 13/8
Newcastle 5/2
Stoke 5/2
Southampton 9/2
