by Jamil Salih
SWANSEA City fell to fourth place in the Sky Bet Championship after Stoke came back from 1-0 down to snatch a 2-1 victory in the last minute.
The Swans couldn’t have asked for a better start, Andre Ayew opened the scoring inside the first minute of the game, smashing home the rebound from Yan Dhanda’s initial effort.
In the 20th minute, two former-Swans combined to bring the visitors level as Sam Clucas slotted home following Joe Allen’s shot on goal.
Despite the fixture being 1st vs 24th in terms of league positions heading into the match, Stoke caused Swansea problems following their equaliser and went into the interval a rejuvenated team.
The start of the second half saw both teams go toe-to-toe in search of the important third goal of the game with Clucas and Dhanda both going close for both sides respectively.
As the game began to come to its conclusion, the hosts threw everything they had at Stoke and the introduction of Wayne Routledge was an inspired one.
Routledge came inches from giving the Swans the lead with just under 20 minutes to go but his volley was well saved by Stoke’s Federici.
Nathan Jones’ side, despite being bottom of the league, refused to give up fighting and they were rewarded for their perseverance in the 90th minute.
Scott Hogan gave the visitor’s the lead in the dying embers following a spectacular initial save fromWoodman, much to the delight of the travelling Stoke supporters.
The Potters held on to stun the Liberty Stadium and take all three points, picking up their first victory of the season in the process.
The result means that the Swans fall to fourth place in the Championship after leading the pack heading into this week’s round of fixtures.
Speaking post-match, Swansea boss Steve Cooper spoke of his disappointment at losing the game: “Our performance levels fell short of what we would expect today.
“We lost the ball too many times, didn’t press well enough and if you don’t do the basics well, it will cost you.”