West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Swansea City: Piroe and Christie strike for visitors
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Joel Piroe's goal was his 15th of the season as Swansea completed a first league double over West Brom since the 2011-12 Premier League campaign when Brendan Rodgers was in charge
West Bromwich Albion's miserable run continued as Swansea City further hit their fading promotion hopes with a deserved 2-0 win at The Hawthorns.
Joel Piroe struck through a crowded penalty area with 11 minutes remaining to break the deadlock for the visitors.
Cyrus Christie then fired home with a powerful effort with six minutes left.
Callum Robinson twice hit the post for the Baggies, whose new boss Steve Bruce is still looking for his first win in his five games since taking charge.
The Baggies, who led the Championship in October, continue to slide off the promotion pace and are now 13th, eight points off the play-off spots, while Swansea rise to 16th.
Albion's season has gone from bad to worse in recent weeks, but boss Bruce made just one change to the side which started Tuesday's 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough with Robinson replacing 10-goal top scorer Karlan Grant.
Russell Martin made three alterations to the Swansea side beaten 4-0 at Sheffield United nine days ago with Kyle Naughton - returning after a month out with a thigh problem - and Hannes Wolf returning from injury, and Michael Obafemi recalled in attack.
This was a contest between two sides in wretched goalscoring form and that proved to be the decisive factor in a game lacking in incident, with both goalkeepers largely afforded a quiet evening, which should not have been a surprise.
West Brom, who have now failed to score in three successive Championship games at The Hawthorns for the first time in almost 20 years, have found the net just once in seven games since their last win at home to Peterborough under previous boss Val Ismael on 22 January.
The stats on the road for Swansea were equally poor. They had scored only once in six away games in 2022, so it was somewhat predictable that neither side created a clear chance in a sluggish opening 20 minutes.
The hosts thought they had taken the lead on 21 minutes with the first clear chance of the contest, but Robinson's header hit the post after Dara O'Shea's cross.
A flat atmosphere and a lack of chances meant a lack of intensity in a first half in which it took Swansea a full 40 minutes to create an effort.
Matt Grimes curled just wide of goal from 25 yards before Sam Johnstone saved Christie's header - the Swans' first attempt on target - and easily stopped Jamie Paterson's weak effort.
The hosts did not manage a single shot on target as the game moved past the hour mark, but Swansea could not take advantage with Piroe's fierce shot hitting the outside of the post.
However, it was Swansea who were beginning to apply serious pressure.
Obafemi missed a great chance to break the deadlock when he headed Ryan Manning's fantastic cross over the crossbar with 20 minutes remaining.
Shortly after he prodded wide from Wolf's cross as Swansea looked every bit like a side who had failed to find the net in over seven hours on the road.
The hosts finally managed a first shot on target on 74 minutes, but substitute Quevin Castro's shot lacked power, before Robinson hit the woodwork again when his curling effort from 20 yards clipped the outside of the post.
The miss proved decisive as Swansea finally found a moment of quality when substitute Olivier Ntcham's run and cross teed up Piroe, who slammed the ball home from 12 yards.
It was a deserved goal for the Swans and they made the points safe when Christie controlled and powered the ball into the net after Albion failed to cut out Wolf's cross from the left.
After registering just one shot on target, boos rang out from the Baggies fans as the final whistle sounded.
West Bromwich Albion boss Steve Bruce told BBC Radio WM:
"Confidence is low. We're struggling and it's plain for everybody to see. We looked nervous and edgy and looked like we didn't want the ball.
"It's a hugely disappointing result. We've got to handle it better than we are the moment. We have to turn that round.
"Everybody tells me what a good squad of players we've got on paper but we're not seeing it on the pitch.
"You expect West Brom to be at the top in this division, not mid-table. The players have got to handle that pressure of expectation."
Swansea City boss Russell Martin told BBC Sport Wales:
"I'm really proud. We've worked so hard. This was a reward for the hard work they put in over the last eight days.
"The game looks very different whenever we've had a chance to work over international breaks or whatever. We've often reflected the work that the guys have put in.
"They showed huge courage. Huge, huge bravery in the way to try and play because it's not easy, the way we try and play.
"We limited them to one shot on target and scored two and maybe could have had a couple more."