Swansea City 1-1 Crystal Palace

Gylfi Sigurdsson scores from a free-kick — Gylfi Sigurdsson's goal was his fifth in six matches

Crystal Palace arrested a run of five straight defeats thanks to Scott Dann's fifth goal of the season as Swansea slipped to four points above the Premier League relegation zone.

Gylfi Sigurdsson's fine free-kick gave Swansea a well-earned half-time lead.

Palace equalised soon after the restart with Dann's close-range finish from a corner.

Sigurdsson almost snatched victory with another free-kick, but his late effort was well saved by Wayne Hennessey.

The Swans remain 16th in the table and unbeaten under new head coach Francesco Guidolin, while Palace's first point since December keeps them 12th.

Sigurdsson's resurgence

This was a tale of two strikers making their first starts for their new clubs - Alberto Paloschi for Swansea and Emmanuel Adebayor for Palace.

Adebayor's first contribution was an inglorious one, the former Arsenal and Tottenham forward pushing Sigurdsson to concede the free-kick which the Icelandic midfielder then whipped into the corner from 20 yards to put Swansea in front.

It was Sigurdsson's fifth goal in six games and, after an underwhelming first half of the season, it was telling that his resurgence mirrored the upturn in Swansea's fortunes.

A corner of his almost led to a second Swansea goal, but Andre Ayew's sliding effort at the back post squirmed wide.

Palace arrest their slump

While Swansea had managed two wins and a draw since Guidolin's January appointment, Palace appeared to be in freefall having lost their last five league games.

They barely threatened in a limp first-half display but they were level within two minutes of the second.

For a third successive match, Swansea conceded from a set-piece as Yohan Cabaye's corner was flicked on to Dann, who found the net despite a touch from Lukasz Fabianski.

Two sides short of goals

Swansea and Crystal Palace shot maps — Swansea (left) directed only three of their 19 shots on target, while Palace (right) only mustered two out of 12

When the two sides last met, playing out a goalless draw on 28 December, Palace were enjoying an unlikely flirtation with the Premier League's top four while Swansea were drifting perilously close towards relegation.

After that, Palace lost all five of their league fixtures, mustering just two goals in the process, while Swansea entered this match as the division's joint-second lowest scorers despite their improved results.

There was no shortage of chances in the second half, with Ashley Williams twice going close for the Swans and Palace substitute Hiram Boateng shooting wide.

Sigurdsson was denied a second goal from a free-kick as his delicate effort was palmed away by Hennessey, and there was a certain inevitability about the teams failing in their pursuit of a precious second goal.

Man of the match - Gylfi Sigurdsson

Gylfi Sigurdsson celebrates his goal — The Iceland midfielder was the creative hub of every Swansea attack, scoring with one excellent free-kick and almost netting a second late on

What they said

Guidolin praises 'confident' Swans

Swansea manager Francesco Guidolin:

"I am not happy [with a point] because my opinion is that my team played very well for 90 minutes. We had many possibilities to score.

"We controlled the game, which is not easy with the weather. Crystal Palace is a good team and they played well, but we played better.

"It was another good performance, I think it's the best in my period at the club. We can have confidence because the team is good, the fitness is good. We must work to improve in set-piece situations."

Point feels like a win - Pardew

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew:

"The point today is so important. We knew we had to get something today, so that was a very good result. It was really tough, with a lot of energy and a lot of commitment from both teams.

"We were playing with our brakes on but we had a reaction to the chat at half-time. Swansea have been in good form and we came back, which makes it all the sweeter.

"[Emmanuel] Adebayor had a couple of moments that were top-drawer - you can see that he's going to add something. We still look a bit like we need a bit more going forward at this level. [Yohan] Cabaye was terrific. There's a bit of relief on our side and we take that into the Watford game."

The stats you need to know

Since his debut in January 2012, only Tottenham's Christian Eriksen (six) has scored more free-kick goals in the Premier League than Sigurdsson (five).
Scott Dann has scored five Premier League goals in 2015-16 - this after having scored six in 125 Premier League games before this season.
Dann's goal was the eighth by a Crystal Palace defender in the league this season, more than any other team.
Crystal Palace became the final team in the top four tiers of English football to register a league point in 2016.
The Swans have netted 58% of their goals in the first half of games this season, the highest proportion in the top flight.

What's next?

Swansea host Southampton next Saturday, while Crystal Palace entertain Watford.

Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text

Line-ups

Swansea

Formation 4-3-1-2

1Fabianski
22RangelSubstituted forNaughtonat 87'minutes
33FernandezBooked at 75mins
6Williams
3Taylor
24Cork
7Britton
10A Ayew
23G Sigurdsson
9PaloschiSubstituted forGomisat 88'minutes
15RoutledgeSubstituted forBarrowat 61'minutes

Substitutes

2Amat
8Fer
13Nordfeldt
18Gomis
20Montero
26Naughton
58Barrow

Crystal Palace

Formation 4-2-3-1

13Hennessey
2Ward
6Dann
27DelaneyBooked at 54mins
23Souaré
7CabayeSubstituted forBoatengat 72'minutes
15JedinakBooked at 56mins
11Zaha
22Mutch
14LeeSubstituted forChamakhat 45'minutes
25AdebayorSubstituted forCampbellat 86'minutes

Substitutes

4Hangeland
9Campbell
12McCarthy
29Chamakh
34Kelly
38Boateng
43Kaikai

Referee:: Mike Dean
Attendance:: 20,492

Match Stats

Home TeamSwanseaAway TeamCrystal Palace

Possession: Home59%; Away41%

Shots: Home18; Away12

Shots on Target: Home3; Away2

Corners: Home9; Away5

Fouls: Home11; Away14

Live Text

Post update
Match ends, Swansea City 1, Crystal Palace 1.
90'+5'
Full Time
Second Half ends, Swansea City 1, Crystal Palace 1.

90'+3'
Post update
Attempt blocked. André Ayew (Swansea City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ashley Williams with a headed pass.
90'+2'
Post update
Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Jordon Mutch.
90'+1'
Post update
Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
90'+1'
Post update
Foul by Hiram Boateng (Crystal Palace).
88'
Post update
Foul by André Ayew (Swansea City).
88'
Post update
Damien Delaney (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
88'
Post update
Attempt blocked. Ashley Williams (Swansea City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Gylfi Sigurdsson with a cross.
88'
Substitution
Substitution, Swansea City. Bafétimbi Gomis replaces Alberto Paloschi.
87'
Post update
Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Pape Souaré.
87'
Substitution
Substitution, Swansea City. Kyle Naughton replaces Angel Rangel.
86'
Substitution
Substitution, Crystal Palace. Fraizer Campbell replaces Emmanuel Adebayor.
86'
Post update
Attempt missed. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Leon Britton.
85'
Post update
Leon Britton (Swansea City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
85'
Post update
Foul by Emmanuel Adebayor (Crystal Palace).
84'
Post update
Attempt missed. Federico Fernández (Swansea City) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Gylfi Sigurdsson with a cross following a corner.
83'
Post update
Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Wayne Hennessey.
83'
Post update
Attempt saved. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
82'
Post update
Modou Barrow (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

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