Swansea City vs Crystal Palace. Premier League.
Swansea.com StadiumAttendance20,276.
Sunday 27 November 2016 10:23, UK
Fernando Llorente’s stoppage-time double gave Bob Bradley his first Premier League win as Swansea claimed a thrilling 5-4 victory over Crystal Palace.
Wilfried Zaha had put Palace ahead at the Liberty Stadium before Gylfi Sigurdsson's sensational free-kick sent the teams in level at half-time.
Leroy Fer scored two goals in three minutes after the break to put Swansea clear of their opponents, before James Tomkins and a Jack Cork own-goal brought Palace back to 3-3.
Christian Benteke looked to have won it for Palace in the 84th minute after turning in Scott Dann's header, but substitute Llorente poked in two goals in added time to condemn Palace to their sixth Premier League defeat in a row.
Connor Wickham earned a place in Alan Pardew's starting line-up in place of Andros Townsend after coming on for the winger at half time to score against Manchester City last weekend.
Swansea remained unchanged from their 1-1 draw with Everton, with Sigurdsson again leading the line and summer signing Llorente left on the bench.
Switching to a 4-4-2 paid dividends early on for Palace, with Wickham and Benteke both proving too powerful in the air for the Swansea centre-backs.
But Belgium international Benteke squandered a chance to put Palace ahead less than seven minutes in, firing over from close range after Dann's header caused a goal-mouth scramble.
Palace's aerial dominance paid off after just 19 minutes though, with Benteke rising to beat Federico Fernandez in a frequent mismatch and finding Zaha. The winger still had to turn to beat Taylor though, before firing low past Lukasz Fabianski to put Pardew's side ahead.
The away side were in control right up until the 36th minute, when Jason Puncheon foolishly pushed Cork on the edge of the area, giving Sigurdsson an opportunity to take centre-stage, and the Iceland international struck a sweet free-kick into the top left-hand corner to draw level.
Zaha almost put Palace back in front straight away, heading against the crossbar after Yohan Cabaye had found him at the back post.
The game turned when Wickham suffered what looked a serious injury early in the second half and was replaced by Townsend. With Palace forced to switch from their 4-4-2 formation, the Swans took control.
Bradley acted quickly to bring on Llorente before a Swansea corner and the Spaniard's resulting header from the set-piece bounced off Cabaye on the line and was poked back in by Fer to put Swansea ahead.
Fer then scored his second goal in three minutes after a free-kick deflected off Palace and Swansea players before finally glancing off Llorente and in off Fer's toe.
But Palace struck back in the 75th minute when another goal-mouth scramble finished with Tomkins scoring from close range, before Zaha's cross took a wicked deflection off Cork and looped over Fabianski to make it three apiece.
Pardew looked to have his first win since September 24 when Benteke then reacted quickest in the six-yard box to turn Dann's header towards goal and make it 4-3 with just six minutes of normal time remaining.
However, after Llorente's header was saved brilliantly by Hennessey, the former Juventus striker deflected in Sigurdsson's rebound to bring it level in the 91st minute.
And when Palace failed to clear a hopeful free-kick into the box, Llorente was there to tap in for Swansea's first league win since the opening Premier League weekend, lifting them off the bottom of the table and just two points behind Palace in 16th.
Player ratings
Swansea: Fabianski (5), Naughton (6), Fernandez (5), Amat (5), Taylor (6), Cork (6), Fulton (6), Fer (8), Barrow (7), Sigurdsson (7), Routledge (6).
Subs: Llorente (9), Montero (6), Rangel (6)
Crystal Palace: Hennessey (5), Ward (5), Dann (5)), Tomkins (5), Kelly (4), Zaha (7), Cabaye (6), McArthur (6), Puncheon (5), Benteke (7), Wickham (6).
Subs: Townsend (5), Fryers (6), Sako (6)
Man of the match: Fernando Llorente
