Fernando Llorente scored twice in a topsy-turvy affair at the Liberty Stadium to help Swansea City to a 3-2 win over Burnley.
It looked like being an afternoon of frustration for the Swans when Andre Gray scored twice - the first a controversial penalty - to cancel out Llorente's opener.
Martin Olsson led the revival in the final 20 minutes, though, and the comeback was completed by Llorente in added time to lift the home side five points clear of the drop.
Follow all of the action as it unfolded with Sports Mole's live text coverage below.
Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League meeting between Swansea City and Burnley at the Liberty Stadium. The Swans are on the up under new boss Paul Clement, doubling their points tally since the Englishman took charge to drag themselves off the foot of the table and into the lofty heights of 16th place ahead of this crucial home clash with the Clarets.
It has been a more comfortable season for the visitors thus far, meanwhile, despite that terrible away record, as they sit in 11th place at the start of play - seven points ahead of their opponents. Relegation has never truly been in the equation for then, but their fears of facing the drop are still not completely over yet, with another couple of wins still required to make certain of another season of top-flight football in Lancashire.
TEAM NEWS!
SWANSEA CITY XI: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Olsson, Fer, Cork, Carroll, Narsingh, Llorente, Sigurdsson
BURNLEY XI: Robinson, Lowton, Mee, Keane, Ward, Brady, Boyd, Barton, Hendrick, Gray, Vokes
Starting with the visiting team, boss Sean Dyche has been forced into a rare change between the sticks as Tom Heaton misses out on a return to South Wales through injury. The former Cardiff City stopper has been virtually ever-present for the Clarets since joining a few years ago, but he sits out just a third league game for the club today to give experienced keeper Paul Robinson a chance to impress.
Dyche has been further changes to his team elsewhere, too, with Jeff Hendrick coming back into the team in place of Ashley Westwood following his suspension, while Sam Vokes is handed a starting role up top as Ashley Barnes serves a one-match ban. Vokes will likely be given a heroes welcome before the match following his heroics with Wales in the summer, but do not expect that to last into the match with three massive points up for grabs.
Ben Mee will skipper the Clarets this afternoon in a side showing those three changes from last weekend's 1-1 draw with Hull City. There is no place in the squad for Steven Defour and Johann Berg Gudmundsson due to a hamstring and knee injury respectively, but Andre Gray is fully fit up top and will be looking to improve on a scoring rate of six goals in his 20 Premier League appearances this term - enough to earn talk of a first England call.
In terms of the hosts, Clement has made just the one alteration from last weekend's defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, bringing in ex-PSV Eindhoven ace Luciano Narsingh for his first start since joining in January. The Dutchman has impressed from the bench in his four outings thus far, clearly showing enough to be given the nod out wide this afternoon over Wayne Routledge, who drops down to the bench.
Jordan Ayew is another who has had to make do with appearances from the bench since joining a little over a month ago, and that remains the case today as he has been overlooked in the starting XI. Jefferson Montero is another tricky option in the Swansea attack, though injury has seen his playing time curtailed in recent weeks and is nowhere to be seen once again today despite making a return to training earlier this week.
Narsingh will join Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente in the Swans' expected three-man attack line; two players boasting impressive stats this season. The latter, a summer signing from Sevilla, has scored nine goals in all this term; three from his head, three from his right foot and three from, you've guessed it, his left foot - the perfect striker. Sigurdsson is the undisputed star in this side, though, providing a league-high five assists and unrivalled 34 chances from set-pieces alone, scoring eight and assisting nine overall.
BENCH WATCH!
SWANSEA CITY SUBS: Nordfelt, Amat, Rangel, Britton, Routledge, Borja, Ayew
BURNLEY SUBS: Pope, Tarkowski, Flanagan, Westwood, Arfield, Darikwa, Agyei
With Heaton missing just a third league game for Burnley this afternoon, Nick Pope is called upon to provide back-up to Robinson. Not too many attacking options for Dyche to call upon if required, it is fair to say, while opposite number Clement has Routledge, Ayew and Borja Baston should a goal be required in the second half. Jon Flanagan is also in the Burnley squad today - a player who has not exactly profited from his loan switch from Liverpool.
It is not often that Burnley are without Tom Heaton in their starting ranks - just three times since he joined nearly four years back, in fact - but that is the case today due to an injury problem. Former England international Paul Robinson therefore steps in between the sticks in one of three changes from last time out, while Swansea City make just the one alteration - Luciano Narsingh being handed a first start.
Swansea will see this afternoon as a real chance to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three for the first time since the opening weeks of the season, knowing that two of their relegation rivals - Leicester and Hull - face off elsewhere in the next couple of hours. Regardless of what happens between now and the middle of May, it has been a real disappointing season for the Swans and one that they will simply hope does not end in them dropping out of the division.
The Swans do appear to be on the straight and narrow under Clement, doubling their points tally to 24 since the turn of the year and moving into a safe-haven of 16th place. The nadir can be pinpointed to the 3-0 loss to Bournemouth here a couple of months back, seeing them begin 2017 as the bottom side in the top flight and seemingly destined for the drop. Enter stage right Clement who, while not officially being in charge at the time, instigated a key win away at Palace to kick things off.
Swansea's opening-day win over Burnley at Turf Moor was one of only three across the opening 19 games of the season, but they have since earned that win over Crystal Palace and also beaten Liverpool, Southampton and Leicester to move two points clear of danger. Clement has not exactly had the easiest of starts to his first Premier League managerial job, having already faced Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool - the latter three all away from home.
Clement has acknowledged that this is now a "crucial period" for the Welsh outfit, as they face a more straightforward set of fixtures - on paper, at least - taking in games with Burnley, Hull City, Bournemouth and Middlesbrough. The Clarets aside, who do appear to be enough points clear to seriously worry about the drop at this stage, each of those games comes against a side who themselves will fear dropping out of the division. Come this time next month, the picture will become a lot clearer.
Swansea have conceded a league-high tally of 57 goals this season; only four teams shipping more at this stage of a Premier League season, all of whom went on to be relegated. It is fair to say that Clement has made a strong impression since taking on the job, then, particularly after having something to prove following his perhaps unfair sacking by Derby County last season which, incidentally, came after a 4-1 loss to Burnley in the Championship - his joint-heaviest defeat as a manager.
So where does all this leave Swansea? They are currently two points clear of the bottom three but are still far from safe just yet, with just five points between the bottom six; seven points separating the bottom seven. A win today could therefore lift them into 14th place, while defeat means they will possibly be in the drop zone - it really is that tight. Bournemouth have just picked up a point at Old Trafford, though, so Swansea will now need to win by 10 goals if they are to move two places!
PREVIOUS MEETINGS! Swansea City have won all three previous meetings between these two sides in the Premier League by the same 1-0 scoreline, with Leroy Fer earning the points late on at Turf Moor in the reverse fixture - no team has ever registered four 1-0 wins in succession in the Prem, however. Burnley's last victory at Swansea City was by a 4-2 scoreline in the third tier 22 years ago, and they have failed to score in five of the last six encounters.
Paul Clement, sacked by Derby County last year following a 4-1 loss to today's opponents Burnley, has made an instant impact at new club Swansea City. The former Real Madrid, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich assistant - some CV! - has doubled the Swans' points tally to 24 and they are now two clear of the drop zone heading into a crucial run of games against sides around them.
Burnley sit in 11th place ahead of this clash in South Wales, meanwhile - an impressive return in their first campaign back at this level. The Lancashire outfit have never previously managed to retain their Premier League status upon their two previous promotions, but Dyche has so far worked wonders - learning lessons from the past and repaying the owners' faith - to lift his side into top-half reckoning. That will take some doing, of course, though it says a lot that relegation has barely been mentioned.
Some will suggest that, with a nine-point gap on the bottom three and a few months of the season to go, relegation is not yet out of the question for the visitors. It really will take an almighty collapse for that to happen, though, plus all the teams below them to miraculously pick up points consistently, so at worst this will be a campaign of mid-table mediocrity for Burnley; at best a push at the top half - one point the gap between themselves and Stoke City in 10th.
The Clarets have lacked any real consistency in recent weeks, however, and they did exit the FA Cup to non-league Lincoln City a couple of weeks back, but they have still done more than enough to make this a season to remember for their supporters. A 1-1 draw with Chelsea last month, making them one of the rare sides to have taken points from the Blues this campaign, was followed by a draw of the same scoreline against a team at the opposite end of the division in Hull.
The draw with Chelsea was unquestionably a hugely impressive result for Burnley and, on the balance of things, taking a point from Hull was not the worst result in the world, either. It was far from a classic at the KCOM Stadium, particularly in the first half when both sides seemed afraid to commit bodies going forward, but things opened up in the second 45 and a draw was the right outcome in the end - just a second away point of the campaign for Dyche's men.
It was also the first time Burnley had avoided defeat on their travels in eight outings, so it is another small step to eventually becoming established at this level. Their home form has been exceptional, bettered only by the elite, but picking up the odd point away from fortress Turf Moor is now on the agenda in this run of away fixtures. The Clarets have a mixed run to come, facing top-four challengers, relegation candidates and fellow mid-table sides between now and next month.
DID YOU KNOW? Burnley have scored just one first-half goal in 12 away games this season, of which they have drawn two and lost 10. The Clarets have the lowest points-per-game ratio in Premier League history (0.40), in fact, taking just 20 points from 50 on offer across three spells at this level. A win today, though, and they will reach a club-record tally of 34 points overall for the season.
With kickoff at the Liberty Stadium now less than 10 minutes away, let us check out some pre-match thoughts from both camps.
Paul Clement: "We are all very aware of the run we have coming now with the three games in March and Middlesbrough at the start of April. We have come off the back end of a difficult run of games and picked up a good amount of points against teams in and around us. We're very aware that this a crucial period for us, this run of four games, but we are really only focusing on getting a result against Burnley."
Sean Dyche: "It's a very different business from 10 years ago. I heard another manager the other day speak completely openly about someone else's player. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The way it is now, it's just people throwing names around willy-nilly about who they want, who they can get, what their contract situation is. It's not a private business any more. You have to adapt to it and be flexible within it. It's all you can do."
Clement describing this upcoming run as "crucial" for his side, knowing that positive results against fellow strugglers Middlesbrough and Hull City, as well as Bournemouth and today's opponents Burnley, will take them further clear of the drop. There will be immense pressure ahead of those two six-pointers in particular, however, certainly more than they faced prior to matches with Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, so Clement must use all his experience to handle the situation.
Dyche was speaking specifically about news linking Michael Keane and Andre Gray away from the club, meanwhile, admitting that he is not exactly a fan of other managers discussing potential signings while they are still contracted to another club. Gray has hardly been on fire this season in the way that, say, Harry Kane has, but his scoring rate has been steady enough - six in 20 games - and has led to calls for a potential England call-up later this month.
Both sets of players are now out on the field of play, with kickoff just a couple of minutes away. Swansea, who are seeking three home wins on the spin this afternoon, make just the one change from their last outing - Narsingh coming in for Routledge. Burnley make three alterations, meanwhile, bringing in Robinson, Hendrick and Vokes for Heaton, Barnes and Westwood. Huge afternoon ahead for the Welsh outfit in particular!
KICKOFF! We are up and running in South Wales, where Swansea have started the brighter and already have a corner. Sigurdsson targeted Mawson, a scorer here in his side's last two games, but it was headed well clear.
Burnley just knocking the ball around at the back at the moment, looking to settle into the match. They eventually lose possession when a searching ball down the right is overhit and goes straight out of play for a goal-kick.
Clement shouting out instructions to Narsingh, presumably telling him to hold his position out wide to stretch the Clarets. Very little between the teams so far in what has been a scrappy start; neither side really able to keep hold of possession.
Llorente wants a free kick when losing the ball, but referee Anthony Taylor made the right call. Gray then almost wrestled to the ground by Hernandez, who is in for a tough afternoon against the Vokes-Gray attacking axis.
YELLOW CARD! Early booking in the match for Burnley full-back Stephen Ward, who brought winger Narsingh down to the ground. Decent chance for the hosts to now get the ball into the box from a deep free kick.
OFF THE BAR! Swansea so nearly make the most of the set-piece, as Mawson is twice denied by the frame of the goal. His header initially came back off the crossbar and was not completely dealt with, sending his follow-up attempt against the post.
GOAL! SWANSEA CITY 1-0 BURNLEY (FERNANDO LLORENTE)
Swansea have themselves a deserved lead at the Liberty Stadium, just moments after twice being denied by the frame of the goal in quick succession. It all came through a superb Fer cross from the right after getting in behind, allowing Llorente to get between his two markers to nod past Robinson - goal 10 of the season for him.
SHOT! Hendrick looking for an instant response, sending a well-struck shot down the middle for Fabianski to get behind. The Clarets yet to get going this afternoon and now have 75 minutes or so to find a route back into it.
Brady's free kick has too much elevation on it, which Fabianski uses to his advantage by racing off his line and collecting with ease. A straightforward opening quarter to the match for the Swans' backline, though Burnley do have that one Hendrick shot to their name.
SAVE! For the first time today Burnley put together a string of passes, working the ball to Gray inside the box. The striker used his strength well to hold off his man and sent a deflected shot goalwards, which Fabianski did well to scoop aside.
PENALTY TO BURNLEY! The Clarets gave away a penalty for handball last weekend, but they have profited from a big call this time around. Not sure who was the guilty party on initial viewing, though Gray can now level up...
GOAL! SWANSEA CITY 1-1 BURNLEY (ANDRE GRAY, PENALTY)
Gray sends the penalty down the middle to level up the match, but after seeing a replay of the incident it is clear to see why Swansea's players feel so aggrieved. It was Vokes who handled the corner when it came into the box - referee Anthony Taylor getting that one horribly wrong.
Absolute shocker of a decision from the ref, I'm afraid. Swansea were deserving of their one-goal lead prior to that, so it will be interesting to see how they recover from shipping a controversial penalty a quarter of the way through.
Another decision goes against Swansea, only adding to the atmosphere. Swansea have never won with referee Anthony Taylor in charge, incidentally, with this his first match at the Liberty Stadium so far this campaign.
SAVE! A first save of the afternoon for stand-in keeper Robinson, who turns away Martin Olsson's drive. Real backs-to-the-wall stuff from the Clarets at the moment, unable to get out of their own final third of the field.
SAVE! Another decent attempt from Olsson, who makes the most of Ward's hesitancy and backtracking to drive forward and sent a shot down the middle for Robinson to keep hold of. Real non-stop action at the Liberty Stadium so far!
No question that Robinson has been the busier of the two keepers, making a couple of half-decent stops having already conceded one. Ward is a little lucky to avoid a second yellow when conceding a sloppy free kick.
A look at the stats shows that Swansea have attempted 164 passes in the opening 35 minutes of the match, compared to Burnley's 85. Panicking at the back, are the Clarets, but the Swans cannot find that elusive second at the moment.
Swansea had a weak penalty attempt turned down a few moments again, ironically when the ball appeared to hit Vokes. The Welshman was turning his back and it would have been very harsh had it been awarded by Anthony Taylor.
Narsingh with a real teasing cross from the right, which is again headed away. Ward somehow has to see out the next 50 minutes of the match on a yellow up against Fer, Narsingh and Naughton down that Swansea right.
Things have quietened down a little over the past five minutes or so, but it is still one-way traffic - Swansea completely dominating things. Burnley just holding out until the break, at which point Dyche may make a change to strengthen his midfield.
CLOSE! Sigurdsson's first real sight of goal ends with the ball being dragged inches wide of the post from right on the edge of the opposition box. Eight goals and nine assists for him this season - not bad, at all!
Now into the final minute of normal time at the Liberty Stadium, with a minute or so expected to be added on at the end. A half dominated by the hosts on the whole, but it is all square as we approach the midway point in South Wales.
OFF THE BAR! For the third time today, Swansea hit the crossbar! Llorente attempted to loop the ball over Robinson with his head and managed to do exactly that, but there was no beating the frame of the goal.
HALF TIME: SWANSEA CITY 1-1 BURNLEY
Referee Anthony Taylor, at the centre of the big call midway through this first half, blows for the interval. Swansea City deserve to be a couple of goals ahead on the balance of the opening 45 minutes, but they were denied by the frame three times and conceded to a penalty that should never have been.
Swansea were denied by the frame of the goal on three occasions in the opening 45 minutes, the first coming early on when Alfie Mawson - a scorer in the Swans' last two games here - saw his header come back off the crossbar. From the same phase of play, the ball was worked back into the defender's path and he was this time thwarted by the post to leave the hosts frustrated.
That theme of frustration was to continue for most of the afternoon, but the Welsh outfit were given a temporary reprieve when Fernando Llorente headed in goal number 10 of the league campaign on the 13-minute mark from a fine right-sided Leroy Fer cross. Jeff Hendrick and Andre Gray offered a response for the visitors when sending shots on target for Lukasz Fabianski to help away, just moments before the controversial call from Anthony Taylor arrived.
A week on from being on the wrong end of a somewhat controversial handball call, Burnley this time benefited from the decision to award them a spot-kick when their own player handled inside the box. A cross into the box struck Sam Vokes on the arm, but Taylor and his officials clearly did not see the incident clearly and instead pointed to the spot for Andre Gray to drill down the middle. From that point on it was all Swansea, as Martin Olsson twice tested stand-in Clarets keeper Paul Robinson and Gylfi Sigurdsson dragged an effort inches wide.
Llorente saw his looped header hit the bar from one of the final acts of the first half, piling on further frustration at the end of what had been a one-sided affair until that point. Dyche will surely make a change at the break because, despite being level, the Swans will surely get a bit of luck over the remaining 45 minutes.
SWANSEA CITY SUBS: Nordfelt, Amat, Rangel, Britton, Routledge, Borja, Ayew
BURNLEY SUBS: Pope, Tarkowski, Flanagan, Westwood, Arfield, Darikwa, Agyei
RESTART! We are back under way at the Liberty Stadium. No news of any changes made by either manager at the break, so we will likely wait until the hour mark before any fresh legs are brought on in this Premier League clash.
Some good link-up play between Gray and Vokes, which we have not seen enough of today, for the latter to take on the shot. Rather poor half-volley in the end, however, and it is met by 19,000-odd ironic cheers from the home supporters.
OFF THE LINE! Ever get the sense that it is not going to be your day? Sigurdsson does well to work the shot, which gets the beating of Robinson but is cleared off the line by a backtracking Mee. We are somehow still level!
We are now 52 minutes into the match and Swansea have hit the bar three times, had a shot cleared off the line and conceded to the most controversial of penalties. All this game needs now is Burnley to sneak a second goal for the ultimate smash-and-grab!
CHANCE! Big chance for Llorente to add a second to his tally for the afternoon. A superb cross from Carroll on the left is glanced marginally wide by the Spaniard, who was under pressure from Mee eight yards out.
YELLOW CARD! Ben Mee becomes the second visiting player to see a yellow card for a late challenge on Fer. Swansea just need to find their rhythm again now, while Burnley will look to break up play a little more.
YELLOW CARD! Taylor reaches into his pocket for the second time in the space of two minutes, this time showing the yellow card to Fer for a challenge on Barton. The Englishman looks to have picked up an injury.
Barton, starting his fifth-successive league game since rejoining the club in January, is able to run off that knock. An hour now played at the Liberty Stadium but no real sign of either manager making a change in personnel just yet.
Another big call made by Taylor, as he catches Llorente slightly to concede a free kick. May have been a caution had he not already been booked, and the official decides to let him off with a little talking to on this occasion.
GOAL! SWANSEA CITY 1-2 BURNLEY (ANDRE GRAY)
Unbelievable! Burnley have seen the bar come to their rescue three times today and also saved one attempt off the line - not to mention that penalty - but they have take the lead in South Wales! A punt forward was knocked down by Vokes into the path of Gray, who swivelled and picked his spot to turn the game on its head.
Burnley certainly full of confidence now, bursting forward through Gray who so nearly picked out Vokes inside the area. It was not the be, while up the other end Fer was wayward with his attempt as Swansea chase down a leveller.
BURNLEY SUB! Here is the first change of he afternoon, as Arfield comes on in place of Brady. Clement has numerous attacking options to call upon, but he is biding his time at the moment with 22 minutes to go.
GOAL! SWANSEA CITY 2-2 BURNLEY (MARTIN OLSSON)
Swansea are back on level terms in this incredible game of football at the Liberty Stadium! Sigurdsson with another assist, but this is all about Olsson who lashed the ball home to give the hosts hope of going on and rescuing all three points.
SWANSEA CITY SUB! Ayew has been a regular player to turn to for the Swans since joining in January, and he is again introduced in the final quarter of the match in place of Narsingh. Plenty of time for a winner here - at either end!
Now into the final 15 minutes of the match and you have to wonder about the mentality of both teams. Burnley will surely see this as a more positive result than their opponents, yet the win is very much there for the taking if they gamble.
Not a great deal happening since that fourth goal of the afternoon, with both teams perhaps just taking time to regather their breath. Really has been an action-packed afternoon in South Wales; one that will be dominated by the earlier penalty call.
A case of Burnley holding off their opponents at the moment. Do not be surprised to see another chance or two in the remainder, but is proving to be a little stop-start at the moment as the final 10 minutes approach.
SHOT! A corner is won by the Swans, which always means danger when Sigurdsson is stood over the set-piece. The ball is only half-cleared at the back post and eventually finds Olsson, who sends a volley narrowly wide of the target.
BURNLEY SUB! Dyche has made his second and third subs of the match, bringing on some much needed fresh legs. Tarkowski and Westwood are on for Vokes and Barton, as the Clarets look to pack out their midfield for the remainder.
Burnley certainly making things tight now in midfield, forcing Swansea to use the winger. They will not mind that too much, though, because the quality of crosses into the box for Llorente has been pretty decent this afternoon.
Mawson takes a chance at the back but gets away with it, then attempts to bring the ball forward. It is Swansea who are going in search of that decisive fifth goal of the match, with Burnley throwing everyone - bar Gray - behind the ball.
YELLOW CARD! Not the most malicious of challenges from Cork, but the ball got away from him and it did warrant a yellow card - the fourth of the match. Boyd on the end of it but he is OK to continue for the remainder.
OFF THE LINE! Naughton has picked up an injury and has to be replaced by Rangel. Swansea still pushing for a goal and they nearly got it, only for Carroll's low effort to be blocked on the line by Mee once again.
GOAL! SWANSEA CITY 3-2 BURNLEY (FERNANDO LLORENTE)
What a match!! So, so cruel on Burnley, who were just two minutes from claiming another rare point on their travels. Carroll's cross - yet again right on the mark - was nodded home by Llorente to earn the points for Swansea at the death.
FULL TIME: SWANSEA CITY 3-2 BURNLEY
The full-time whistle sounds at Liberty Stadium, meaning a truly massive victory for the Swans. At one point they were two points above the relegation zone, having let their lead slip away, but they showed the character required to beat the drop by scoring two goals in the final quarter of the match and now find themselves seven points clear of danger.
That concludes Sports Mole's live text coverage of events at the Liberty Stadium. An on-the-whistle report from South Wales can be found by clicking here, while reaction aplenty from this and all the other games in the Premier League will follow in due course. Thanks for joining!
