Swansea City manager Paul Clement believes his side deserved to beat West Brom, after winning 1-0 against the Baggies on Saturday.
Wilfried Bony scored the game’s only goal in the 81st minute, prompting huge reactions from not just the fans but also Clement himself.
The three points lifts Swansea off of the bottom of the league and above Crystal Palace following the Eagles’ 2-2 draw with Bournemouth.
Needed victory
Speaking after the game, Clement said: “It was a nice feeling to have that result, we all needed it. It was a scrappy game but we’ve been on the wrong end of enough tight games.
“I think we deserved it. I was pleased with the impact of the subs,” the 45-year-old said, “they made the difference after the starting XI got us to that point. We got over the line. The goal came at the right time and we could have had a second at the end.”
Tammy Abraham was through on goal with just minutes remaining but his chipped effort landed on the wrong side of the post.
On his reaction to the goal, Clement said: “The celebration was a mixture of frustration built up over the recent weeks and the elation of the goal at that point. It was important with West Ham winning, it was important we didn’t get set adrift. It was a well-needed three points.
“I thought Bony was good.” The former Bayern Munich manager admitted. “We’d struggled to get him in the game early on and West Brom were screening him well, but second-half we got more balls into him and with others coming on we could make him more of a threat.”
Can Swansea pick up momentum?
Unfortunately for Swansea and Clement, picking up momentum following this win will be a hard task as they welcome league leaders Manchester City to the Liberty Stadium on Wednesday.
Clement said: “It’s momentum for everybody. We know now we have a difficult game on Wednesday, the best team in the Premier League coming here.
“We know it’s going to be tough but the four games going into Christmas with this one of them, some are more winnable than others.” The former Derby County manager said. “Today was one and we’ve taken advantage of it.”
When asked if his side has no pressure ahead of the fixture with Manchester City, Clement claimed: “I don’t think it takes the pressure off, it more builds confidence. Confidence can come and go. It’s been down recently but they stood up today put a lot of effort in. But we’ve said before we’ve had opportunities to build on and not done so.”
Swansea now sit 19th in the table, and just one point from safety and boast a superior goal difference to the two sides directly above them.