Second-half goals from Jefferson Montero and Ki Sung-yueng have given Swansea City a 2-0 win against 10-man Stoke City in their Premier League clash at the Liberty Stadium.
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The hosts were strongest in the opening stages as they maintained possession and forced their opponents to do all of the chasing.
It took a while for the first chance to be fashioned, however, as Nelson Oliveira volleyed wide from a tight angle at the far post after a cross from Nathan Dyer on the quarter-hour mark.
Stoke did well to keep Swansea at bay in the face of constant pressure and soon enjoyed a good spell of their own, but neither goalkeeper was troubled throughout the majority of the first half.
This changed in the latter stages as Charlie Adam fired wide from 30 yards three minutes before the break, while Steven N'Zonzi forced a smart save from Lukasz Fabianski on the stroke of half time.
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The second half was a livelier affair as Gylfi Sigurdsson fired against the crossbar moments after the restart, before heading over from eight yards out in the 51st minute.
Swansea eventually managed to draw first blood 75 minutes in when Montero snuck in behind Phil Bardsley at the back post to head in his first goal for Garry Monk's charges.
Stoke then suffered a further setback in the latter stages of the game as Marc Wilson was dismissed for a second yellow card, the outcome of a hack on Montero.
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The hosts then killed the game off in injury time when Jonjo Shelvey's cutback into the Potters box was slotted home by Ki.
The result means that Swansea cement their hold on eighth place in the Premier League table, while Stoke slip to 10th.
Giuseppe Labellarte
