Swansea City 2 Southampton 1: Gylfi Sigurdsson scores the winner for the Swans as they record back-to-back league wins for the first time this season

SWANSEA CITY won back-to-back league wins for the first time this season thanks to a Gylfi Sigurdsson acrobatic finish at the Liberty Stadium.

Shane Long equalised for the Saints in the second half to cancel out Alfie Mawson's header, but it's now four losses in five league games for the Saints.

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There was only one team in the first half, and the Swans deservedly went into the break in the lead, although they should have had the game wrapped up.

Gylfi Sigurdsson was causing the Saints back-line all sorts of trouble, regularly testing goalkeeper Fraser Forster, first putting him into action in the 26th minute with a rasping 25-yard strike.

And then in the 38th minute, Forster somehow managed to turn the ball behind from the Icelandic international's stinging shot from the edge of the box.

But from the resulting corner Alfie Mawson rose highest from Sigurdsson's whipped in cross, to head the ball high into the roof of the net, courtesy of an Oriol Romeu deflection.

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Then somehow Forester again kept out the former Spurs man in first half injury time, stopping the ball from nestling into the top right-hand corner after a sumptuous effort from the edge of the area.

They were made to pay for their missed chances as Shane Long got his name on the score sheet in the 57th minute, toe-poking home from six yards out after Ryan Bertrand whipped in a low cross.

However Sigurdsson finally got his goal in the 70th minute - Swansea breaking with pace and numbers from a Saints corner, new signing Luciano Narsingh picking out the 27-year-old's run who acrobatically volleyed the ball low into the bottom corner.

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STATS, FACTS, GOALS & LOLS

• THE rain that had battered South Wales all day relented briefly just
  as the game kicked off…before starting again.
• SOUTHAMPTON boss Claude Puel made eight changes after resting his
  first choice stars for their club’s 5-0 hammering at home by Arsenal
  in the FA Cup on Saturday.
• NOT surprisingly, Swansea manager Paul Clement named the same side
  that started their 3-2 win at Liverpool in their last game 10 days
  earlier.
• THIS was referee Roger East’s first Premier League match for more than
  10 weeks following his shocker in Bournemouth’s 1-0 win at Stoke on
  November 19 when he emailed Cherries boss Eddie Howe to apologise for
  failing to award his team a stonewall pen.

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• THE Wiltshire whistler boobed again when he waved away Swans appeals
  for a spot kick in the 19th minute when Saints defender Jack Stephens
  clearly handled in the box as he made a hash of trying to clear a
  corner.
• ALFIE MAWSON headed Swansea 1-0 up in the 38th minute with a near-post
  header from Gylfi Sigurdsson’s corner.
• ASKED if his club would be involved in any late transfer window drama,
  a Swansea press officer joked: “Not now Lionel Messi has just been
  refused entry to the car park.”
• SHANE LONG levelled for Southampton when he slotted in Ryan Bertrand’s
  cross in the 58th minute.

Big picture

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Dream team ratings

Swansea City: Fabianski 6, Naughton 6, Fernandez 6, Mawson 7, Olsson 6 (Rangel 76, 6), Fer 6 (Ki 72, 6), Cork 6, Carroll 6, Routledge 6 (Narsingh 60, 6), Llorente 7, Sigurdsson 8

Subs not used: Nordfeldt, Amat, Gonzalez, Dyer

Booked: Fernandez, Cork

Goals: Alfie Mawson, Gylfi Sigurdsson

Southampton: Forster 6, Soares 6, Stephens 6, Yoshida 6, Bertrand 7, Davis 6, Romeu 7, Clasie 5 (McQueen 76, 6), Tadic 5 (Boufal 56, 7), Long 7, Redmond 6 (Sims 76, 6)

Subs not used: Taylor, Gardos, Hojbjerg, Reed

Goal: Shane Long

STAR MAN: GYLFI SIGURDSSON

Social says

What they said

Southampton boss Claude Puel: "A good second half but perhaps it was too late. We cannot take a positive when you lose a game.

"The second half was a good reaction, a good try but they played clinically tonight and have been rewarded."

Swansea City manager Paul Clement: "A massive result for us, to back the great away win at Liverpool up with a home win in a really hard game. They peppered our box with crosses.

"We showed big character. Our second goal was fantastic, a great counter. Performance was so-so, the result massive. We have done more than I expected. Since the heavy loss to Arsenal we have taken one or two really important games."