Premier League
SwanseaSwansea City1LiverpoolLiverpool0

Swansea City 1-0 Liverpool

By Michael PearlmanBBC Wales Sport at the Liberty Stadium
Defender Alfie Mawson has scored three league and cup goals this season
Defender Alfie Mawson has scored three league and cup goals this season

Manager Carlos Carvalhal says Swansea put "Formula 1 car" Liverpool in traffic as the Premier League's bottom club claimed a famous victory at the Liberty Stadium.

Alfie Mawson's goal proved the difference as the Swans recorded a potentially priceless win in their fight against relegation.

Liverpool, unbeaten in their previous 18 games, had by far the better scoring chances but some poor finishing, fine home defending and an impressive display from goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski kept them at bay.

The closest they came was when Roberto Firmino struck a post with a late header.

Swansea have been beaten just once in six matches since the appointment of Carvalhal, while Liverpool lost for the first time since Spurs beat them 4-1 on 22 October.

"I talked with my players and said this Liverpool is a really strong team," said Carvalhal, who has secured seven points in his first four league games.

"They are like a Formula 1 car. But at 4pm in London it will be difficult to speed, they would be a car like any other.

"We needed to make sure there was traffic, we could not let them have open roads to drive in."

Swansea were six points adrift of safety heading into the match, having lost eight games in a row against sides in the top six. But after Monday night's win, Carvalhal's side are within three points of 17th.

The Reds, meanwhile, failed to narrow the gap on Chelsea and Manchester United but remain fourth.

They came into this game on the back of a superb win over leaders Manchester City but lost for only the third time in the league this season after a lacklustre display.

"I am more frustrated about the performance than the result," said Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. "We didn't play how we wanted to play.

"We gave them the opportunity to score and then we did exactly what Swansea wanted. Swansea knew that to win they needed our help, and unfortunately we gave it to them."

Goal-shy Swansea stay with pack

Swansea 1-0 Liverpool: It was our night - Carvalhal

Heading into this match the hosts had scored only 22 goals all season across all competitions - two fewer than Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah alone.

The Swans had lost seven of their previous 11 home matches and a loss to Liverpool would have equalled their worst home record in the Premier League, so it was perhaps no surprise that they approached the contest more like an away match.

Having shipped five goals at Anfield just 27 days ago, that cautious approach made sense, especially considering Swansea had lost each of their past eight home fixtures against the top six, conceding 25 goals in the process.

While they might have lacked Liverpool's quality, their game management will have thrilled Carvalhal.

Their back three of Mawson, Federico Fernandez and Mike van der Hoorn were superb and, as the contest wore on, they had an outlet in the tireless Jordan Ayew, who might have added a second but saw his effort was well saved by Loris Karius.

Liverpool pushed until the end with substitute Danny Ings testing Fabianski. Swansea were then forced to repel cross after cross but the result was secured when Salah blasted over and Firmino struck the post in time added on.

Personnel changes mean adjustment for Liverpool

Swansea 1-0 Liverpool: Klopp 'frustrated' after defeat to Swansea

January has been a month of adjustment for Liverpool and their first league contest with Virgil van Dijk at the heart of their defence provided a look at what they have gained and lost.

The world's most expensive defender looked assured and composed for long spells, even contributing to a host of attacks, but he was also central to the goal.

He failed to effectively cut out two successive crosses, heading both out for corners, and his timid header then struck Swansea skipper Fernandez and fell perfectly for Mawson, who finished like a striker into the bottom corner.

The goal, which sparked celebrations so wild Fernandez broke his nose, was harsh on a Liverpool side missing the invention and creative spark provided by the departed Philippe Coutinho.

That might not have been the case in the thrilling 4-3 win against Manchester City, when Pep Guardiola's side were happy to give as good as they got and leave space, but it was a different story against a side with 11 men behind the ball.

When they did break through, Van Dijk headed wide from an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain corner and freed Salah beautifully with a ball over the top that the Egyptian fired over, before Fabianski denied Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The visitors should have levelled just before the break but Sadio Mane could only volley wide after Salah's centre, and a sense of desperation crept into Liverpool's play as the contest wore on.

Man of the match - Alfie Mawson (Swansea)

Swansea City defender Alfie Mawson
We could have picked any Swansea defender after a heroic rearguard display, but how priceless could Mawson's goal prove to be for Swansea come May?

Turning the table upside down - the stats

  • Since the start of 2014-15, this is only the third time the team starting the day bottom of the table have beaten a team in the top four (W3 D4 L20). The other two occasions were Crystal Palace against Chelsea this season, and Swansea at Liverpool in 2016-17.
  • Swansea have earned seven points in their four Premier League games under Carlos Carvalhal (W2 D1 L1), two more than they'd picked up in their 12 before his arrival (W1 D2 L9).
  • This was Liverpool's first defeat in 15 Premier League games (W10 D4), and just their third in the competition this season.
  • Jurgen Klopp has lost three Premier League games against Swansea, more than he has against any other opponent in the competition.
  • Alfie Mawson is only the second Swansea player to score more than once in the Premier League at the Liberty Stadium this season, after Tammy Abraham (three).
  • Liverpool had 20 shots to Swansea's three in this match, but only managed two more attempts on target than the hosts (2).

What's next?

Both teams are in FA Cup fourth-round action on Saturday, when Swansea look to avoid a shock at League Two Notts County (15:00 GMT) and Liverpool host West Brom in the late game (19:45).

Line-ups

Swansea

Formation 5-4-1

  • 1Fabianski
  • 26Naughton
  • 5van der Hoorn
  • 33Fernandez
  • 6Mawson
  • 16Olsson
  • 12DyerSubstituted forCarrollat 64'minutes
  • 8Fer
  • 4Ki Sung-yueng
  • 17Clucas
  • 18J AyewSubstituted forBonyat 79'minutes

Substitutes

  • 2Bony
  • 11Narsingh
  • 13Nordfeldt
  • 14Carroll
  • 27Bartley
  • 51Mesa
  • 62McBurnie

Liverpool

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Karius
  • 12Gomez
  • 32MatipBooked at 45mins
  • 4van Dijk
  • 26RobertsonBooked at 44mins
  • 23Can
  • 5WijnaldumSubstituted forIngsat 73'minutes
  • 11Salah
  • 21Oxlade-ChamberlainSubstituted forLallanaat 68'minutes
  • 19Mané
  • 9Firmino

Substitutes

  • 7Milner
  • 17Klavan
  • 20Lallana
  • 22Mignolet
  • 28Ings
  • 29Solanke
  • 66Alexander-Arnold
Referee:
Neil Swarbrick
Attendance:
20,886

Match Stats

Home TeamSwanseaAway TeamLiverpool
Possession
Home28%
Away72%
Shots
Home3
Away21
Shots on Target
Home2
Away4
Corners
Home3
Away9
Fouls
Home5
Away9

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Swansea City 1, Liverpool 0.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Swansea City 1, Liverpool 0.

  3. Post update

    Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Alfie Mawson.

  4. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Adam Lallana (Liverpool) left footed shot from very close range is blocked.

  5. Post update

    Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) hits the left post with a header from the right side of the six yard box. Assisted by Virgil van Dijk.

  6. Post update

    Attempt missed. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Adam Lallana.

  7. Post update

    Attempt missed. Emre Can (Liverpool) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Roberto Firmino with a headed pass.

  8. Post update

    Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Alfie Mawson.

  9. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Joel Matip.

  10. Post update

    Attempt saved. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Mohamed Salah with a cross.

  11. Post update

    Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Federico Fernández.

  12. Post update

    Attempt missed. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Roberto Firmino with a cross.

  13. Post update

    Attempt missed. Joseph Gomez (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.

  14. Substitution

    Substitution, Swansea City. Wilfried Bony replaces Jordan Ayew.

  15. Post update

    Foul by Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool).

  16. Post update

    Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  17. Post update

    Attempt saved. Danny Ings (Liverpool) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

  18. Substitution

    Substitution, Liverpool. Danny Ings replaces Georginio Wijnaldum.

  19. Post update

    Offside, Swansea City. Lukasz Fabianski tries a through ball, but Jordan Ayew is caught offside.

  20. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Joseph Gomez (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Roberto Firmino.

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Scores, Results & Fixtures

Monday 22nd January 2018

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Man City24212170185265
2Man Utd24165349163353
3Chelsea24155445162950
4Liverpool24138354292547
5Tottenham24136547222545
6Arsenal24126645311442
7Leicester249783632434
8Burnley249781921-234
9Everton2477102639-1328
10Watford2475123344-1126
11West Ham2468103042-1226
12Bournemouth2467112536-1125
13Crystal Palace2467112237-1525
14Huddersfield2466121941-2224
15Newcastle2465132234-1223
16Brighton2458111733-1623
17Stoke2465132550-2523
18Southampton24410102435-1122
19West Brom24311101931-1220
20Swansea2455141535-2020
View full Premier League table

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