Bob Bradley lands 1st win; Tottenham’s unbeaten start ends
LONDON (AP) — After a difficult introduction to English Premier League management, Bob Bradley’s wait for a win is over.
Swansea’s players couldn’t achieve it the easy way for their trail-blazing American coach.
In the sixth game of his reign on Saturday, Swansea tossed away a 3-1 lead against Crystal Palace to head into stoppage time trailing 4-3.
Displaying the fighting spirit Swansea has lacked this season, Fernando Llorente found time to score twice and complete a wild 5-4 victory that lifted the south Wales club off the bottom of the standings.
“It’s a crazy match, and it’s very important for us,” Llorente said. “We need confidence and this match will help us a lot.”
It shouldn’t have been so tough. After Wilfried Zaha gave Palace an early lead, Gylfi Sigurdsson’s free kick and Leroy Fer’s double gave Swansea a 3-1 advantage. But the game unexpectedly swung back in Palace’s favor when James Tomkins and Christian Benteke scored either side of Jack Cork’s own goal in a nine-minute spell.
But Llorente, dropped from the squad for last weekend’s draw at Everton, presented his case for a starting role in the most dramatic fashion.
“The character of the players came through,” Bradley said. “It’s been a difficult season so far, there have been a lot of things that just didn’t bounce the right way.”
On Saturday they did, but not for Alan Pardew whose Palace side slumped to a sixth successive league and is only out of the relegation zone on goal difference. Swansea climbed off the bottom and is two points from safety.
The top of the table…
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