Stoke City vs Swansea City. Sky Bet Championship.
Bet365 StadiumAttendance22,593.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at the bet365 Stadium
Saturday 25 January 2020 18:48, UK
Sam Clucas came back to haunt his former club as Stoke eased their relegation worries with a 2-0 win against Swansea.
The former Swans player smashed home a beauty on 55 minutes as the Potters moved seven points clear of the drop zone.
James McClean wrapped up the points in stoppage time after taking advantage of some careless defending.
Stoke had enjoyed the best of the first half following a slow start, with Clucas, Joe Allen and McClean all having chances.
And they picked up where they had left off after the break to complete a deserved victory.
The Welshmen started brightest, with Jack Butland having to pull off a superb one-handed save to keep out Conor Gallagher's ninth-minute shot.
Marc Guehi failed to find the target after he got on the end of Bersant Celina's corner and Freddie Woodman saved one-handed to keep out Allen's powerful drive as the Potters grew into the game.
Woodman kept out a weak Sam shot with his legs on 33 minutes and Clucas headed over seconds later after Tommy Smith's dinked cross fell just behind him.
McClean failed to get his head on a brilliant Clucas cross just after the break, but the pressure finally paid off when Clucas drilled a low effort from just outside the box past Woodman.
Grimes smacked a free-kick against the crossbar as the Swans looked for a quick response.
Stoke also had chances as Vokes glanced Ince's inswinging corner wide of goal, before sub Lee Gregory blazed over from an unmarked position after an excellent counter attack.
But Allen flashed a half-volley narrowly wide before McClean made the game safe, robbing Guehi of the ball before smashing through the keeper's legs.
Stoke's Michael O'Neill: "We have got momentum building. It has been a good start to the year from us and there are a lot of positives. We have to keep working to improve our home form. The atmosphere in the stadium in the second half helped drive the team forward.
"That positivity makes paying a bit more enjoyable and helps the team. It is important we send the fans home happy.vI am delighted with the result and the clean sheet."
Swansea's Steve Cooper: "We are disappointed not to win the game. The game was there to win with the way we started and this is a missed opportunity. The crowd were against Stoke at the start and we should have capitalised on that.
"We did not continue our good start and did not do enough to score goals. If you are not going to win a game, you have to make sure you don't get beat. We never felt like we were under the cosh. We did not manage certain situations well enough."
