Swansea City gained back-to-back victories for the first time since August, with Gylfi Sigurdsson’s first half costless-kick earning a narrow victory over Aston Villa at the Liberty Stadium.

History had dealt both sides with poor records on Boxing Day, with Villa winning just one of their last 13 games on the day, whilst the Swans had failed to record a single Premier League victory in any of their first games after Christmas.

A cagey 0-0 would have therefore been on the cards had Ebenezer Scrooge had his way.

Thankfully, for the 20,786 that braved the Welsh rain, that was not the case.

An entertaining game began with the hosts on the front foot, with Ben Taylor getting an effort as early as the third minute as both sides came to turns with the difficult conditions at the Liberty.

Jefferson Montero was superb in the early stages, playing a part in every Swansea attack until he limped off on the 22nd minute. The game proved to be one too soon for the Ecuadorian on his return from injury, with Wayne Routledge coming on in his place.

By then, the hosts were already one goal to the good, with Gylfi Sigurdsson making the most of a clumsy foul on the edge of the area from Jores Okore – who had a woeful first period – to fire past a flat-footed Brad Guzan in the Villa goal.

Whilst Swansea’s lead was deserved, Garry Monk’s men far from wrapped up the game at any stage, with their rigid defence needed on more than one occasion to prevent Villa and Gabby Agbonlahor in particular from finding the back of the net.  The England striker was far and away the biggest threat of Paul Lambert’s side in the first half, but the limited service to both he and Christian Benteke limited the duo to long shots, far from troubling Lukasz Fabianski in the Swans goal.

The next 45 minutes brought not only a change of weather, but a difference in tempo in the match with the desperation to gain all three points forcing the game into an end-to-end affair in Wales.

The introduction of Andres Weimann for the visitors gave a new dimension to the Midlands club, dominating the early stages of the second period with a more direct 4-3-3 formation as opposed to the wingback system they earlier operated. The absence of a clinical final ball, however, prevented Villa from fashioning any clear-cut chances. Hardly surprising that they’re the lowest scorers in the whole of the Football League.

The Belgian Weimann proved wasteful, much to the frustration of compatriot Benteke, unable to find one of three teammates queueing up for a tap-in as Villa looked to get back on level terms.

Amidst all this, Swansea continued to miss chances to gain a second goal and seal their first Boxing Day win since 2007, with Ki missing a glorious opportunity after playing a lovely switch move with Sigurdsson. The Villa defence was far from its sturdiest either, with Brad Guzan put under pressure by a defence hesitant in their decision making all afternoon.

The best chances were still to come for Villa, with Benteke and Agbonlahor both getting on the end of crosses in stoppage time, only to be thwarted by a pair of fantastic saves from Fabianski, as Swansea held on for all three points, moving into the top eight in the process.

For Villa, they will be without Agbonlahor for their next match against Sunderland after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season, as they look to gain their sixth victory of the season.

Swansea manager Garry Monk spoke to BBC Sport at the end of the game: "It was a tough game. In the first half we played some lovely stuff, had an early goal and could have had one or two more. We showed great defensive qualities, and there was a great save from Lukasz Fabianski in the end.

"It was a great stop at a crucial point of the game. Overall, we defended very well. In these conditions today, some of our football was good. Gylfi practices most days with those costless-kicks so it's no fluke. We had a couple of chances where we could have made it more comfortable - both teams dug in and tried to win the game and thankfully it was us. We're improving all the time. These types of results are good for the mentality. Ultimately, we have to be happy. Three points, a clean sheet, is very good."