Swansea City suffered another frustrating defeat despite taking the lead against Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium.
After a lacklustre first half, Josh Tymon capitalised on a defensive mistake to put the Swans ahead against his former club.
However, the lead was short-lived as Wouter Burger equalised with a header from a free-kick just minutes later.
Set-pieces continued to trouble the visitors, with Bae Junho putting Stoke ahead before Lewis Baker sealed the win in stoppage time with a remarkable long-range strike from inside his own half.
Luke Williams made four changes to his side, bringing in Kyle Naughton, Gonçalo Franco, Ollie Cooper, and Liam Cullen following the midweek defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
The Swans will look to halt the slide towards relegation when Blackburn Rovers are the visitors to the Swansea.com stadium on Saturday.
Team Line-ups
Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux; Ben Cabango (captain), Kyle Naughton (Harry Darling 76), Hannes Delcroix; Ronald, Gonçalo Franco, Lewis O’Brien, Josh Tymon; Jisung Eom (Josh Key 89), Ollie Cooper (Jay Fulton 76); Liam Cullen (Florian Bianchini 68).
Unused Substitutes: Jon McLaughlin, Žan Vipotnik, Josh Ginnelly, Cyrus Christie, Myles Peart-Harris.
Stoke City: Viktor Johansson (captain), Ben Pearson (Lewis Baker 62), Michael Rose, Wouter Burger (Tatsuki Seko 77), Ali Al-Hamadi (Nathan Lowe 86), Bae Junho, Lewis Koumas (Million Manhoef 62), Jordan Thompson (Josh Wilson-Esbrand 87), Junior Tchamadeu, Andrew Moran, Ashley Phillips.
Unused Substitutes: Jack Bonham, Andre Vidigal, Ben Gibson, Emre Tezgel.
Referee: Dean Whitestone
Attendance: 21,256
Post-Match Reaction from Luke Williams
Luke Williams remains confident that Swansea City can turn around their poor run of form but admits it will require character and leadership from his squad.
The Swans boss was speaking after yet another disappointing defeat, which leaves his side with just one win in 2025.
“When you take the lead that late in the game, it’s incredible to think we have conceded three goals from that point.
“We conceded free-kicks we did not need to give away, and then we cannot defend simple balls into our box.
“We are going to need people to show leadership on the pitch if we want to make sure we get things moving in the right direction.
“We are still eight points clear of the danger zone but we have wasted so many opportunities since the turn of the year.
“I know there is enough quality in the dressing room. We have players who are good professionals. We just need a bit more of that leadership and responsibility on the pitch.”
Here is the full post-match interview:
Match Highlights
Watch extended highlights of the Swans defeat against Stoke City at the bet365 stadium:
Feature Image Credit: Swansea City Football Club