Andre Ayew’s double yesterday ensured Swansea are safe from the threat of Premier League relegation as Liverpool’s weakened team crashed to a 3-1 defeat at the Liberty Stadium.
Ghana forward Ayew was on target either side of a wonderful strike from Jack Cork to move Swansea onto 43 points and guarantee they will be playing in the English top-flight next season.
It was a lackluster effort from Liverpool, who saw Australian defender Brad Smith sent off in the closing stages as the Reds were left to lick their wounds ahead of their Europa League semi-final second leg against Villarreal.
Photo: Reuters
With Thursday’s game in mind, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp made eight changes from last week’s 1-0 first leg defeat in Spain and the visitors paid the price.
Only Philippe Coutinho, Nathaniel Clyne and Dejan Lovren survived and Klopp’s starting lineup was the youngest Liverpool had ever sent out in the Premier League.
The first 20 minutes of the first half went scoreless until a sweeping move led to a corner on the left.
Sigurdsson whipped in a teasing set-piece and Ayew rose to head home for his first goal since January.
It could have been two, five minutes later, had it not have been for Welsh goalkeeper Ward.
Neil Taylor’s precise cross was met by Cork, who saw his goal-bound shot kicked away by the diving Ward.
A minute later, Jordi Amat head Sigurdsson’s corner over the top from four yards.
There was nothing Ward or any one of the Liverpool defenders could do about Cork’s 33rd minute strike from 25 yards.
The former Southampton midfielder curled the ball beyond Ward after dispossessing Coutinho.
It was Swansea who continued to dominate after halftime, with Cork, Leon Britton and Sigurdsson setting the tempo.
However, Klopp had sent on Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva and Belgian striker Christian Benteke at halftime and the substitutes helped Liverpool regain some momentum.
Their desire and ambition almost brought its reward on the hour when Nathaniel Clyne found himself inside the penalty area with only Lukasz Fabianski to beat.
The Swansea goalkeeper was equal to the threat and with the help of Taylor deflected the ball for a corner.
Yet from the ensuing 65th corner, Liverpool were level.
Sheyi Ojo’s corner picked out Benteke, who dived to head past Fabianski from close range.
Liverpool’s joy turned to despair two minutes later.
Jefferson Montero was the catalyst with a surging run before finding Ayew in the penalty area.
Ayew showed his strength to hold off Liverpool’s defenders before finding the bottom corner with a cool finish from 12 yards.
In the weekend’s other English Premier League games, Newcastle United moved out of the drop zone for the first time since February after midfielder Andros Townsend’s superb free-kick gave the Magpies a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
“The victory means a lot, it gives us momentum, confidence and a connection with the fans,” Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez said.
Sunderland again had to rely on their top scorer Jermain Defoe, with the striker grabbing a last-minute equalizer from the penalty spot in a 1-1 draw against Stoke City, which took the lead through striker Marko Arnautovic.
Despite drawing, Sunderland dropped into the relegation zone, one point behind 17th-place Newcastle and one point ahead of 19th-place Norwich City, who lost 1-0 at Arsenal after Danny Welbeck’s goal in the 59th.
“The last thing you can do down in the dogfight is feel sorry for yourselves,” Norwich manager Alex Neil said. “We didn’t get what we deserved.”
Both Sunderland and Norwich have three games left while Newcastle has two. Aston Villa is already relegated.
At the top, leader Leicester City yesterday had an opportunity to win the title by beating Manchester United in a later game.
The victory for Arsenal put the Gunners provisionally in third place, three points ahead of Manchester City, who were playing at Southampton yesterday.
However, the win is unlikely to quell protests against Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
“Everyone is very disappointed. It was a great opportunity for us to go for the title this season and it is difficult to handle the way it is ending,” Welbeck said.
West Ham still have an outside chance of a top-four finish after an easy 3-0 win against West Bromwich Albion.
Mark Noble scored twice for the Hammers, who were provisionally fifth on 59 points, the same as sixth-placed Man United ahead of yesterday’s game.
Also on Saturday, Watford beat Villa 3-2 thanks to a late double from captain Troy Deeney, and Everton overcame Bournemouth 2-1 amid fan protests against manager Roberto Martinez.
Additional reporting by AP
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