Aston Villa 0-1 Swansea City

Swansea have now got 43 points in the Premier League - their highest ever total is 47

• Gomis scores his second Premier League goal of 2015

• Aston Villa remain three points above relegation zone

• Swansea City move up to eighth in Premier League

• Villa fail to score for 17th time in the league this season

Aston Villa remain in relegation trouble as Bafetimbi Gomis's late goal gave Swansea a dramatic victory.

The French striker had earlier had two shots saved by home goalkeeper Brad Guzan, while team-mate Wayne Routledge had a shot cleared off the goalline.

Gomis then scored with only three minutes left when he held off Ciaran Clark to convert from 12 yards after Jefferson Montero's flicked pass.

Scott Sinclair fired a volley over but Villa could not force an equaliser.

It was a deserved win for the Swans on a disappointing day for their hosts, who remain 16th and only three points above the relegation zone.

While the visitors had more chances, Villa still looked like picking up a crucial point until a counter-attack from Swansea saw substitute Montero flick the ball with the outside of his right foot to Gomis, who netted only his second Premier League goal in 18 matches.

The victory takes Swansea up to eighth in the table as they continue their push for their highest finish in English football since they came sixth in the old Division One in 1981-82.

They finished ninth in the Premier League two seasons ago, but are on course to better that in Garry Monk's first full season in charge and should have been ahead at Villa well before the 87th minute.

Gomis had a good chance after only five minutes when he was found unmarked after Neil Taylor's run, but his shot was blocked by Guzan's legs.

The American again denied Gomis from a tight angle before Routledge was unlucky not to score when his shot was cleared off the line by Clark.

Villa, 4-0 victors at Sunderland last Saturday, came back into the match as Fabian Delph's effort from a tight angle was saved by Lukasz Fabianski and Scott Sinclair and Delph both shot off target.

But those misses proved costly as Gomis won it to end Villa's winning run of three straight victories in all competitions.

Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood said:

"Obviously it's disappointing to lose late on. It's the second time we've done that since I've been here and it's a major setback for us.

"In the first half they were the better side and we showed them too much respect, but in the second half it looked like we might nick a goal. There's a lot of hard work to do and this is a reality check for us but we're still confident we're going to be OK. We don't think it's done yet.

"It's difficult to not be down-hearted, but when I took over we were in a hole, there were no smiles and morale was low. The spirit is a lot better in the camp and we have to make sure we don't take this defeat too hard."

Swansea City manager Garry Monk said:

"In the first half I thought we were fantastic and we should've scored one or two goals. The second half was much more even but we got the goal.

"If we had scored in the first half it would've made it more comfortable but we showed character.

"We have got a fantastic group of players and a real determination to keep going. It's a tough place to come but we showed real bravery and we deserved to score so it was pleasing for us."

Aston Villa's Scott Sinclair scored 36 goals in 91 games for Swansea, including a play-off final hat-trick in 2011

Christian Benteke has only scored five Premier League goals this season

Aston Villa midfielder Tom Cleverley went off injured in the first half

Aston Villa have played in the top flight of English football for every season since 1988-89