Swansea City secured their fifth win in six matches after a thrilling encounter with Preston North End at the Swansea.com Stadium, with a brace from Joel Piroe, Joe Allen, and Harry Darling.
The scoring was opened by Piroe in just the second minute of the game. Shortly after the half-hour mark, Allen doubled Swansea’s lead, and Darling headed in a third just before halftime.
Play-off contenders Preston North End struggled to keep up with Swans in the first half. However, they stormed back in the game during the second half, with Tom Cannon scoring shortly after the break, and Troy Parrott making it 3-2 with 20 minutes left to play.
A touchline incident saw Allen, who had been substituted at this point, and Preston’s manager Ryan Lowe sent off, resulting in eight minutes of added time.
However, Piroe’s cool finish beyond the visiting goalkeeper and former Swan Freddie Woodman in the 96th minute sealed all three points for Swansea.
Swansea’s excellent form of late has put them in a strong position and they will be hoping to maintain their momentum in the upcoming games, with them remarkably now only sitting 5 points off the play-offs with 3 Championship games remaining.
Here is what Russell Martin had to say in his post-match press conference:
The Swans face the long trip to Norwich City on Saturday looking to extend their unbeaten run.
Team Lineups
Swansea City: Andy Fisher, Harry Darling, Nathan Wood, Ben Cabango, Joel Latibeaudiere, Joe Allen (Jay Fulton 60), Matt Grimes (captain), Ollie Cooper (Olivier Ntcham, 75), Liam Cullen (Liam Walsh 60), Ryan Manning, Joel Piroe (Morgan Whittaker 97).
Unused Substitutes: Andreas Søndergaard, Jamie Paterson, Luke Cundle.
Preston North End: Freddie Woodman, Alvaro Fernandez, Ben Whiteman (Bambo Diaby 45), Liam Lindsay (Robbie Brady 46), Liam Delap (Troy Parrott 69), Daniel Johnson (captain), Jordan Storey (Ali McCann 45), Andrew Hughes, Ryan Ledson, Tom Cannon, Brad Potts.
Unused Substitutes: Dai Cornell, Josh Onomah, Ben Woodburn.
Referee: Oliver Langford
Attendance: 15,433
Match Highlights
Watch highlights of the Swans victory over Preston at the Swansea.com stadium.
Feature Image Credit: Swansea City Football Club