Swansea City beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the Premier League on Friday to claim
their first Boxing Day victory since 2007.
The Welsh club had not won their first post-Christmas fixture since a 4-1
triumph over Cheltenham Town in League One seven years ago, but welcomed
a Villa side who had emerged triumphant in just three Boxing Day fixtures in
the Premier League era.
Swansea were dominant in the first half at the Liberty Stadium and opened the
scoring with a well-struck Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick after 13 minutes.
The home side continued to look the more likely to score after going ahead,
although the introduction of Andreas Weimann at the break gave Villa more of
an attacking edge.
Despite an improved second-half display from Villa, which included injury-
time chances for Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor, Garry Monk's
men were able to hold firm for the three points and a first Boxing Day win in
the Premier League.
Top scorer Wilfried Bony returned to the Swansea starting XI as one of four
changes from the 1-0 win at Hull City last weekend, while Paul Lambert
brought in Alan Hutton and Tom Cleverley following suspension.
Matches between these sides have become a staple of the festive calendar
since Swansea's promotion to the Premier League in 2011, but the hosts did
not appear to be in a charitable mood early on as Jefferson Montero headed
over from Nathan Dyer's cross in the opening minutes.
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