Swansea City pushed further away from the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa on the weekend.
The Swans made it three wins in their past four with a hard-fought win over the Premier League's bottom side to find themselves 10 points above the bottom three.
The only goal of the contest came eight minutes into the second half when Gylfi Sigurdsson sent a floating free-kick into the area which was met by central defender Federico Fernandez who headed home under pressure from Villa keeper Brad Guzan.
The victory gives the Welsh club every conceivable chance of avoiding the drop but heaped further misery on Remi Garde's Villa who destined for the Championship.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Swansea City: 1 (Federico Fernandez 53')
Aston Villa: 0
Liberty Stadium, Swansea - 20,454
TALKING POINTS
- Swansea seem to have done the job now. Can they play with a little more freedom and manage to slide their way up towards mid-table?
- Villa are in all sorts. They have not scored in their past three matches and are playing with absolutely no spark.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Swansea head to Stoke after the international break as Villa search for a morale-boosting win when Chelsea visit on April 2.
TWITTER INSIGHT
3 big points and great surprise from my kids on Father's Day in Cataluyna! #36pointspic.twitter.com/rG1xJDrdTx
— Angel Rangel (@arangelz) March 19, 2016
we are swansea !!! https://t.co/Cpr6M1yjCG
— Bafétimbi Gomis (@BafGomis) March 20, 2016
QUOTES CORNER
Swansea boss Francesco Guidolin on the relegation fight:
"I know the performance was not very good but this is the match I was waiting for.
"I know the situation and I saw my players' nerves come across in their performance.
"It is nearly finished, but not quite."
Villa's Garde on his side showing fight:
"Until mathematically it is not possible why should we give up?
"We have shown the opposite of teams that give up."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
21- This is Aston Villa's worst tally of defeats in a single Premier League campaign. Quagmire.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 19, 2016
