Swansea City 2-0 Bristol City: Liam Cullen and Oliver Ntcham goals seal timely win
- Published
Liam Cullen put Swansea ahead with his seventh goal of the season, and first since 4 February
Swansea City ended a six-game winless streak as goals from Liam Cullen and Olivier Ntcham secured a deserved victory over Bristol City.
Cullen steered home on the turn before the break and Ntcham's low shot sealed the points late on.
Swansea's much-needed triumph eased the pressure on boss Russell Martin and his team, who have been heavily criticised after a miserable run.
They climb to 16th in the Championship, while Bristol City remain 14th.
This was a second successive defeat for the Robins, who look destined to finish the season in mid-table.
Swansea will hope to join them having eased concerns that they could be drawn into a relegation scrap with this result, with the gap to the bottom three now 10 points.
It was only a fourth victory in 22 league games for the Welsh club, while Bristol City have won just once in their last five second-tier outings.
This was a fourth meeting of these two sides this season, the most recent of which saw Bristol City win an FA Cup third-round replay on the same ground.
That was two months ago, a time when Martin's team were still talking about a play-off push, but an alarming run of form has left Swansea looking down the table rather than up.
They looked determined to change the mood from the outset here, with Joel Piroe slicing a shot wide only 15 seconds into the game.
Swansea dominated possession for most of the first period, going close again when Harry Darling's powerful header was saved by Max O'Leary before Liam Walsh's acrobatic effort on the rebound was blocked.
Walsh was involved when the goal Swansea deserved arrived, as his searching pass hit Ntcham on the back and dropped invitingly for the Cameroon international to feed Cullen.
His first-time finish had just enough power and precision to beat O'Leary, the ball rolling beyond the goalkeeper's dive and into the far corner.
Cullen's strike stirred Bristol City into life, with Alex Scott scuffing a volley into Andy Fisher's arms before teeing up Andy King for a shot which was well blocked by Piroe.
Swansea missed chances to double their lead early in the second period, with Cullen lifting a shot too high before Piroe's header beat O'Leary but bounced to safety off the post.
Bristol City countered, Omar Taylor-Clarke shooting straight at Fisher before sustained penalty appeals for handball by Ben Cabango were ignored.
Olivier Ntcham had been without a goal since 8 November
With that Swansea found the pressure-relieving second goal, as Jamie Paterson crossed for fellow substitute Morgan Whittaker at the far post.
His header back across goal hit King and dropped for Ntcham, who turned away from Taylor-Clarke and swept the ball into the bottom corner from 15 yards.
Paterson came close to adding a third before Bristol City substitute Andreas Weimann saw a stoppage-time reply ruled out for offside.
With that Swansea could celebrate a first clean sheet since December - and a welcome win.
Swansea City head coach Russell Martin:
"A lot of pride and a lot of gratitude for the way the players played. I think the lads rose in confidence after Tuesday and we have been building for the last few weeks.
"We're back to where we want to be and today we got what we deserved.
"I think it would have been much more difficult over the next couple of weeks, if we didn't win today, with the game that we have next [at Cardiff City].
"So I am really pleased that they were able to perform with that courage and intensity, the desire to win. I think it will be so important for us moving forward."
Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson:
"Credit to Swansea, they needed to get some sort of response. They have had a tough period and they come out quickly against us.
"I thought we defended well with a lot of intelligence and played our way into the game, but the first goal is disappointing as we could have put more pressure on the ball.
"We probably ran out of steam at the wrong time. It's been a tough week and two defeats on the road. But there's still still a lot of positives with a reliance on some young performances, who have been outstanding today."
Pearson on the penalty appeal, for handball by Ben Cabango:
"His arm is in the air and the ball hits him. But we lost 2-0 and we didn't get it. I've spoken more than enough this season about our friends who patrol the pitch in a different colour and it's becoming a bit boring to be honest."