Swansea City kept their top-eight ambitions well on track, courtesy of a 2-0 victory over 10-man Stoke City at the Liberty Stadium.
A dour first half of football was followed up by a far more entertaining affair in the second 45 minutes, but there was only one team ever likely to take maximum points.
Garry Monk's charges hit the crossbar within two minutes of the restart through Gylfi Sigurdsson, before goals from Jefferson Montero and substitute Ki Sung-Yeung in the final 13 minutes wrapped up the win for the Swans.
Relive how the 90 minutes of action in South Wales 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 Stoke City at the Liberty Stadium.
Both these sides have gone somewhat under the radar in the top flight this season, but a top-half finish now looks a certainty. Victory here today will keep the Swans on track for their highest ever league finish, while the visitors need a win to surpass their previous record points haul.
Kickoff in South Wales is less than an hour away now, so let's begin by taking a look at some team news...
TEAM NEWS!
SWANSEA CITY XI: Fabianski, Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Cork, Shelvey, Dyer, Sigurdsson, Montero, Oliveira
STOKE CITY XI: Butland, Pieters, Wilson, Shawcross, Bardsley, Nzonzi, Whelan, Arnautovic, Adam, Walters, Diouf
Let's start by taking a look at the home team, then, and there is news of one change to bring you. Neil Taylor makes a welcome return from his suspension to fill in for Jordi Amat at full-back. The Spaniard if officially down as being injured, but Taylor has looked strong for the Swans this season so it was unlikely that he was ever going to sit this one out.
As well as Amat missing out, Kyle Bartley (knee) has also deemed unfit to take part. They join a growing list of Swans absentees, which includes: Bafetimbi Gomis (hamstring), Kyle Naughton, Tom Carroll and Wayne Routledge (all ankle). Even still, this appears to be a decent looking starting lineup named by the home side, which is a testament to the word carried out by Garry Monk.
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has opted to hand goalkeeper Jack Butland a first league start of the season for the trip to South Wales. The Englishman comes into the team as part of four changes from last time out, alongside Phil Bardsley, Marc Wilson and Glenn Whelan.
Regular first-choice stopper Asmir Begovic misses out on the matchday squad altogether, meanwhile, with the injured Geoff Cameron also not making the cut. Philipp Wollscheid and Stephen Ireland are the other two players to drop out from the draw against Sunderland last weekend, as Hughes freshens things up a little.
BENCH WATCH!
SWANSEA CITY SUBS: Tremmel, Hanley, Ki, Britton, Grimes, Emnes, Barrow
STOKE CITY SUBS: Sorensen, Muniesa, Wollscheid, Sidwell, Ireland, Odemwingie, Crouch
Peter Crouch has scored four goals in his six appearances against the Swans, but he has to make do with a place among the substitutes' bench this afternoon. Thomas Sorensen, who is set to call time on his Stoke career at the end of the month, is afforded a place among the backups due to Begovic's absence.
Youngster Raheem Hanley is named in the Swansea senior squad for the first time this afternoon, alongside more experienced pros such as Ki and Britton. Monk has also named three attacking names on his bench, which could pay dividends as this contest develops this afternoon.
Jack Butland will make his first Premier League start of the season this afternoon:
Well on the face of it this may seem like a dead rubber of a contest, particularly with so much going on at both ends of the table (and not least in the Football League...). But Garry Monk himself said this week that this is his side's "most important game of the season". Okay, that may be a case of the novice boss gearing up his players for the match, yet you can see where he is coming from.
It is a testament to the Welsh club that, with just a handful of games to go, there is little being said of them. Monk has not been mentioned for the Manager of the Year award, and no Swans player was even touted as a Player of the Year contender. Following a flirt with relegation last season, Swansea have been clear of danger pretty much from day one this time around and have all-but secured a place in the top half of the table.
Having surpassed expectations, the Liberty Stadium outfit finally surpassed their previous record Premier League points haul with a win over Newcastle United last weekend. Now it is a case of holding onto eighth place to secure their highest ever league finish, making this a true season to remember - albeit one that has gone massively under the radar in a wider perspective of things.
That is very much the target, but with three more points here today there is even a slight chance that the Swans could chase down Southampton who sit one place above. That will be a tough ask, though, with games against Arsenal and Manchester City to come after today, as well as a tricky trip to Selhurst Park on the final day.
What we will learn over the next few weeks is if Swansea are indeed capable of taking the next step. Finishing eighth in the Premier League is a fantastic achievement, and should it be repeated next season supporters will surely be happy. But clubs have constantly got to be looking forward, meaning the target next time around, with the aid of some summer spending, could potentially be a battle for the Europa League much like Southampton this time out.
One slight blight on the Swans' copy book this season has been their home form. While it is not terrible, just two home wins from seven this year is not exactly great, either. They have a chance to improve that record here today, while a home clash against fallen champions Man City also offers another chance to showcase their potential in front of a large audience.
In many ways, it has been a near-identical situation at the Britannia Stadium this season. Stoke have gone about their business in a quiet manner, yet this is set to be a season of new heights for the Potters. Victory today will take them above Swansea and into eighth place, while also setting a new record points haul of their own.
Not bad going at all, then. Mark Hughes, like opposite number Monk, deserves huge praise for the work he has done since taking to the helm. Stoke were (wrongly) criticised for their perceived long-ball style of play under another Welshman in Tony Pulis, but those days appear to be gone. This side appears to have a nice blend through the backbone, and with a few more additions in the summer there is a strong chance that another top-half finish will be on the cards.
DID YOU KNOW? Stoke City are the only Premier League side this season yet to have received a red card; this despite committing more fouls than any other side in the division, other than Crystal Palace (433).
MATCH PREVIEW: The Sports Mole Sofa team have had their say ahead of this afternoon's game - do you agree with their thoughts?
While it has been an impressive campaign for Stoke, their form in recent weeks has been a little topsy-turvy to say the least. Just one win in their last six outings, including a rather disappointing 1-1 draw at home to relegation-threatened Sunderland seven days ago, has allowed others to make up some ground in the table.
In fact, it has now been two months since Hughes's men last recorded back-to-back wins, and following that draw last time out they will have to wait at least another week before they can do so again. They have games against Tottenham Hotspur, Burnley and Liverpool to come in the final weeks of the campaign, so the target of finishing eighth is one that is likely to go down to the wire.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS: This has proved to be a tricky venue for Stoke to visit in recent times, having failed to pick up maximum points on their last five visits to this part of the world. This fixture last season saw the sides play out a controversial 3-3 draw, with Charlie Adam converting a last-minute penalty to rescue his team a share of the spoils.
In fact, 12 goals have been scored in the last three meetings between the sides in South Wales, so we can expect to see an entertaining contest this afternoon. With little to play for on the face of it - in terms of a push for European football and battle for survival, at least - then an attacking game should be on the cards.
MANAGERS' COMMENTS:
Garry Monk: "There is a real possibility for us to finish eighth, the highest we have ever finished in the Premier League. For that reason alone this is such a vital game and the most important one of our season.
"We've been in the top 10 all year and it is important that we consolidate that position because that was one of our targets at the start of the season. But as it's unfolded we're in eighth place towards the end of the season and it's in our own hands to get that place. It will be difficult because you have Everton, West Ham and Stoke coming and fighting behind us."
Mark Hughes: "We're a little bit frustrated. We conceded a poor goal but after that I thought we were excellent, with a lot of chances and good play. In the second half they pressed us at the back and we needed to show more desire to get on the ball.
"We still had any number of chances but you have to put them away and today we didn't have that end product. I went with an attacking side today because we wanted to put them under pressure early... which we did after the goal. It takes us a point closer to our 50-point target."
Those comments from Hughes came directly after his side's 1-1 draw against Sunderland, and he was clearly frustrated with the performance. His players have the chance to make up for their slip-up last week, though, knowing that a win against Swansea will take them into eighth place and up to 50 points for the season.
PREDICTION: Right, kickoff is just a couple of minutes away, so it seems like as good a time as any to offer my prediction. Twelve goals in the last three meetings at the Liberty Stadium between these two sides offers hope that we will see plenty of action at both ends, so I'm going to go with a 3-2 win for Swansea.
KICKOFF! The battle for eighth place in the Premier League is underway in South Wales.
Swansea have been hit by numerous injury problems in recent weeks, which appears to have got a little worse. Fabianski pulled up with 20 seconds on the clock, although the early signs are positive and he looks okay to continue.
Indeed, Fabianski is fine to continue for the time being. Up the other end of the field, Dyer swung a decent cross into the area from the right, but Shawcross brilliantly got to the ball ahead of Oliveira to deny the on-loan forward.
Swansea are the side on the front foot in the early stages, probing away through Dyer in particular. He almost picked out Oliveira with a through-ball, but Butland was on hand to scoop up the ball before the Benfica striker.
My hope for a high-scoring affair is not looking too promising at this stage. Swansea started positive enough, but we have seen very little in the final third at either end so far. Still plenty of time to go yet, of course...
It is all very slow out on the field at the moment, with neither side really grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck. Walters very nearly latched onto a ball over the top a few moments ago, but Fernandes cleaned things up well by heading back to his keeper.
We've seen more mistakes than chances so far, as both of these teams continue to weigh each other up. That is putting it kindly, because it has been an incredibly slow start to this game. Hopefully we get some sort of spark point soon which helps bring the contest to life.
SHOT! The first real attacking move of the match ends with Oliveira shooting wide at the back post. Sigurdsson and Dyer linked up well in midfield initially, but a pass through to Montero forced the South American winger into a wide position. He managed to pick out his teammate, yet the angle was against the loanee who could only find the side-netting.
Taylor did well to clear Arnautovic's cross, as Stoke look to put together some attacking moves. They have struggled to find any sort of momentum so far, while the Swans appear to be finding their flow a little now.
Sigurdsson is by far the best player on the field, looking to create some passing angles to feed in his teammates. He did exactly that by finding Dyer, and the winger's cross was looped into the air. Butland did well to collect in the end, but Stoke are certainly on the back foot at the moment.
Diouf is a little lucky to avoid a yellow card from referee Craig Pawson. He seemed to leave his boot in on Shelvey when chasing down the ball, but he escaped with just a talking to.
There is still a serious dearth of quality from both teams, but Swansea appear to have more players who can make something happen in the attacking third. Sigurdsson has real quality about him, but the final ball from Montero and Dyer out wide has been lacking.
The flat atmosphere sums up events on the field with a quarter of this game now gone. Still no real chances of note for either team; Oliveira's back-post shot the only real effort we have seen from the opening 26 minutes. I'm sure it will spark into life at some point, folks, please bear with me.
No disagreeing with the thoughts of Dafydd Pritchard. We are still waiting for this one to come to life.
A good move put together by the visitors come to little, as the Swans remain strong at the back. We have seen five shots in all, but none of them have come close to testing either keeper.
Apologies for the lack of updates, but trust me when I say there is next to nothing happening out on the field. I could probably spend the next hour searching for a summer holiday, in fact, which ironically is where the players' thoughts are drifting towards at this stage. A battle for eighth place is clearly not enough to whet their appetites.
SAVE! YESSS!! We have seen some action. Proper action. Except the offside flag was already up so it would have counted for little. It was rather scrappy, too, as Sigurdsson's sliced shot landed right in the path of Shelvey eight yards from goal. He struck first time but could not get the better of Butland who got down well.
Oliviera looks to be carrying an injury, which is not great news for the Swans who have been hit with many injuries of late. Marvin Emnes will be on in a few moments time. We are still without a shot on goal, with that Shelvey effort being chalked off due to the offside decision.
There has been an incredible amount of sloppy errors out on the field so far, but at least the game appears to be showing a little more in terms of attacking intent. Adam has just tried his luck from 30 yards out, with a shot that was always drifting wide. Can't really blame him for taking it on, though.
SWANSEA CITY SUB: As expected, Oliveira's afternoon comes to a close due to that knock picked up. Emnes has a half of football ahead of him to impress manager Garry Monk.
SHOT! Shelvey tries his luck once more, and this time the effort will count towards the shots on goal tally. Taylor pulled his cross back to the edge of the box, with Dyer taking a touch to tee up his teammate. Shelvey looked to pick out the bottom corner but in the end the ball ended in the welcome hands of Butland. Not a great attempt, but that is as good as it has been so far.
SAVE! Great effort from N'Zonzi right at the end of the half. He worked some space around 25 yards from goal, and looked to pick out the top corner of the net with a delicate shot. Fabianski had to backtrack before tipping it over, to keep the scoreline intact.
HALF TIME: SWANSEA CITY 0-0 STOKE CITY
The good news: Craig Pawson has brought the opening 45 minutes to a close; the bad: things were just starting to get good. For 40 minutes that was up there with the worst the Premier League has had to offer this season, but Swansea and Stoke finally sprung to life over a five-minute spell which saw both come close to scoring.
Of the seven shots in the opening 40 minutes, the best two saw Oliveira fire wide from a tight angle and Adam shoot wide from around 30 yards out. In the final couple of moments before the interval, Shelvey tried his luck from the edge of the box but failed to truly trouble Butland, before N'Zonzi forced a decent stop out of Fabianski.
Other than that, fourth official Roger East raising his electronic board to show how many minutes of added time we would play is probably the only other segment that will make it into the Match of the Day montage. Three-Two was the prediction I made pre-match. Of course, I should have mentioned that was my prediction for shots on target this afternoon, so I'm on course for a big payout here.
BENCH WATCH!
SWANSEA CITY SUBS: Tremmel, Hanley, Ki, Britton, Grimes, Barrow
STOKE CITY SUBS: Sorensen, Muniesa, Wollscheid, Sidwell, Ireland, Odemwingie, Crouch
Swansea have already been forced into one alteration in the first half, with Emnes replacing the injured Oliveira. He joins Naughton, Amat, Carroll and Routledge on the sidelines. Not great, then, but hopefully there is plenty more to come as the teams re-emerge for the second half.
RESTART! Right, here we go again. Can both sides step things up over the next 45 minutes?
OFF THE BAR! Almost the perfect start to the half for Swansea. Rangel managed to pick out Sigurdsson on the edge of the box, and the Icelandic international used his right foot to bend one towards the top corner. He was just inches away from finding it, too, but the bar came to Stoke's rescue.
So this half has already proved to be more entertaining than the first... shall we wrap things up there and end on a high? Ah, wait - Sigurdsson has just gone and ruined things by firing into Row Z from 20 yards, so normal service has been resumed.
CHANCE! What an unbelievable chance for Sigurdsson. It has been a mixed afternoon for him so far, but with no player in a blue shirt around him five yards from goal, he headed Dyer's cross over the bar. That was a real sitter. That came just moments after Diouf went down inside the box up the other end, but the referee rightly spotted that the Senegalese was on his way to ground before Fernandes had even lunged in on him.
A far more entertaining match on our hands now, but there is only one side who truly look like they will score. N'Zonzi's smart effort at the end of the first half is as good as it has got for the visitors so far. The Swans have found their groove, and it appears to be a case of when they will score rather than if.
Dyer is down on the ground in some pain. Arnautovic appeared to rake his foot down the leg of the winger, and the replay does not make good viewing. He has offered his apology, but that could potentially have been a red had the referee spotted it
YELLOW CARD! Arnautovic is now punished by the referee, but rather than being penalised for his nasty challenge on Dyer, it is a caution for a pull back on Rangel. He becomes the first player to enter Craig Pawson's book this afternoon.
A cross into a central position from Taylor is well headed behind by the Stoke backline. Swansea are looking a real threat now, but Mark Hughes has so far decided against changing things around. Can the home side make this pressure count?
CHANCE! Another chance comes and goes for Swansea midfielder Sigurdsson. This time his shot was blocked from close range by Wilson. The Swans are continuing to knock on the door, as we enter the final third of this contest.
YELLOW CARD! Wilson becomes the second player to earn himself a booking, following a bad challenge on his former Bournemouth teammate Cork. Shelvey headed the resulting free kick well over the bar.
It really is all Swansea, which has been the case right from the restart. They are playing some really nice football as they make their way through midfield, but they just can't quite get the ball over the line. I'm shocked Hughes still hasn't made a change.
MATCH ACTION: Still goalless at the Liberty Stadium, but the second half has been more positive in terms of action - just!
STOKE CITY SUB! The Potters finally make a change, with Ireland on for the ineffective Adam. That may just provide the spark they need in midfield to make something happen.
So, 18 minutes remaining for one of these sides to win it. The first half was a complete write-off bar the final couple of minutes and, while this second period of play has been much better, we are still no closer to a breakthrough goal. Swansea have been on top for large parts, although Sigurdsson has lacked the finishing touch on a couple of occasions.
YELLOW CARD! Rangel brings down Arnautovic to earn a yellow card in a reverse of a similar incident 10 minutes ago which led to the Austrian being booked.
Incidentally, there's 20,661 spectators inside the Liberty Stadium this afternoon. This has been the smallest venue in the Premier League for a few years now, but that will all change next term when Bournemouth make their top-flight bow.
GOAL! SWANSEA CITY 1-0 STOKE CITY (MONTERO)
We have lift off in South Wales at long, long last! There is no denying that Swansea deserve their lead, either, because they have been on top throughout this half. The goal was created brilliantly by Shelvey, who did well to initially keep the ball in on the right before taking on Bardsley and crossing for Montero to nod home. Great movement from the Ecuadorian, who showed some great movement to ghost and convert for his first Swans goal from close range.
SWANSEA CITY SUB: Dyer has clearly failed to shake off that earlier knock, meaning that his afternoon is over. Ki Sung-Yueng is on in his place for the final 10 minutes.
STOKE CITY SUBS: Peter's Odemwingie and Crouch or on for Stoke, as Hughes makes a double change. Diouf and Walters are the men to make way. Crouch has an impressive record against the Swans, remember, bagging four goals in his six appearances against them.
Arnautovic has his side-footed attempted easily stopped by Fabianski, while Diouf has also headed over from close range. That is as much as Stoke have offered this half, but have they left it too late? Seven minutes to go at the Liberty Stadium.
Crouch has well and truly offered Stoke a different option up top, which Williams is having to adapt to. They still have time to rescue a point from this one.
RED CARD! Stoke's hopes of claiming a share of the spoils has quite possibly just faded away. Wilson, already with a yellow card to his name, bundled over Montero who burst through the heart of the Potters' midfield. It could possibly have been a straight red, but Pawson was feeling kind and instead showed two yellows.
Here's a sight you don't see very often - Swansea earn themselves a corner kick, but just two outfield players were inside the box! That's a strange one, which says a lot about the home side's intentions for these final few minutes.
SHOT! Crouch is causing a few problems for the Swans, which makes you wonder why he wasn't brought on with more than 10 minutes left to play. He managed to get a rather awkward shot in on goal from inside the box, but Fabianski was grateful to see it pretty much down his throat.
SWANSEA CITY SUB: A nice ovation for goalscorer Montero, who departs in place of Barrow. He has a few minutes to make an impression following his return from Nottingham Forest last month.
GOAL! SWANSEA CITY 2-0 STOKE CITY (KI SUNG-YUENG)
Game. Set. Match. The Swans get a second goal which their efforts more than deserve. Some poor defending from the visitors allowed Shelvey to pick up possession on the left, and he cut it back for Ki who was never going to miss from seven yards out. That is now seven goals in 19 games for the South Korean, following a run of one in his previous 55.
FULL TIME: SWANSEA CITY 2-0 STOKE CITY
So there we have it, then, as referee Craig Pawson brings to the contest to a close. Let's all simply forget what we witnessed in the first half and focus on the second 45 minutes. Swansea came out far stronger, hitting the post through Sigurdsson within two minutes of the restart, while they were constantly knocking on the door throughout.
They were rewarded for their efforts when Montero headed home his first goal for the club, before Ki came off the bench to seal things late on. That leaves the Swans six points clear of Stoke in eighth place, sealing what has been a hugely impressive campaign for the Welsh outfit.
Well that's all from me in terms of live commentary, but be sure to stick around with a full match report, player ratings and in-depth analysis still to come. Thanks for joining!
