Swansea City endured another heartbreaking defeat against a Championship frontrunner as Sunderland staged a comeback to win a thrilling encounter at the Swansea.com Stadium.
The Swans, unbeaten in their previous four matches, made a flying start and raced into a 2-0 lead within 17 minutes.
Žan Vipotnik struck first with a clinical close-range finish, and Liam Cullen doubled the advantage with a spectacular free-kick.
However, Sunderland halved the deficit before halftime through Dan Ballard’s header. The visitors then turned the game on its head in the second half, scoring twice in quick succession through Dan Neil and Jobe Bellingham to seal their first win over Swansea in 12 matches.
Gonçalo Franco, Ronald, and Žan Vipotnik returned to the starting XI, with Jay Fulton, Jisung Eom, and Florian Bianchini moving to the bench following the win at Plymouth Argyle in midweek.
Speaking after the match, Luke Williams pulled no punches with his take on the game, saying that his side were miles off the levels of the top six teams.
Next Saturday the Swans travel to the MKM Stadium to take on Hull City.
Team Lineups
Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux; Josh Key, Ben Cabango, Harry Darling, Josh Tymon; Matt Grimes (captain), Gonçalo Franco, Liam Cullen; Myles Peart-Harris (Jisung Eom 71), Ronald, Žan Vipotnik (Florian Bianchini 71)
Unused Substitutes: Jon McLaughlin Jay Fulton, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Cyrus Christie, Kyle Naughton, Nelson Abbey, Azeem Abdulai.
Sunderland: Anthony Patterson, Dennis Cirkin (Luke O’Nien 70), Dan Neil (captain), Dan Ballard, Jobe Bellingham, Patrick Roberts, Chris Rigg, Eliezer Mayenda, Wilson Isidor, Chris Mepham, Trai Hume.
Unused Substitutes: Simon Moore, Nazariy Rusyn, Adil Aouchiche, Aaron Connolly, Milan Aleksic, Leo Hjelde, Aji Alese, Harrison Jones.
Referee: Andy Davies
Attendance: 15,791
Match Highlights
Watch extended highlights of the Swans defeat against high flying Sunderland at the Swansea.com stadium:
Feature Image Credit: Swansea City Football Club