Premier League: Sunderland 2 Swansea 0

Sunderland earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Swansea on Saturday, to maintain their good form under new boss Martin O’Neill.

The home side took the lead in the 14th minute thanks to Stephane Sessegnon’s exquisite goal, as he chipped the ball over Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm.

A superb volley in the 84th minute from Craig Gardner sealed the result for the hosts at the Stadium of Light, as they taught the away side a lesson in finishing.

Swansea enjoyed far more possession than the home side, and despite the efforts of midfielders Joe Allen and Gylfi Sigurdsson largely dominating the midfield, the Black Cats were resilient in defence and worked very hard to continue their recent revival under manager O’Neill.

Sunderland signalled their intentions early in the match by playing a high defensive line, and it was the Black Cats who had the first chance in the fifth minute, as Sebastian Larsson saw a back-post volley go just wide after a good cross by Kieran Richardson.

Unfortunately, Sunderland striker Nicklas Bendtner was forced to go off with a cut to the head in the 11th minute, and was replaced by Connor Wickham.

Having absorbed the pressure of Sunderland’s attacking play, Swansea managed to create a chance after some good work by Leon Britton.

The ball found its way to Scott Sinclair, but his shot went over the bar from inside the penalty area.

Swansea were made to regret Sinclair’s miss, as with their next attack, Sunderland took the lead through Sessegnon.

Sunderland began to exert even more pressure on the Swansea goal, but could not quite create any more clear chances to double their advantage. The Swans grew into the first half and began to play some good passes, with Gylfi Sigurdsson beginning to exert some influence in the midfield.

However, Sunderland’s impressive work-rate prevented the away side from fashioning any goalscoring opportunities, with Larsson and James McClean impressing in their respective wide roles.

Sigurdsson continued to impress on his full Swansea debut after the breal, and saw a free kick from 25 yards out in the 57th minute just pushed away by Sunderland’s goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and playing a key role in exerting further pressure in their half. However, the Icelandic midfielder was substituted soon after, as Chelsea starlet Josh McEachran was brought on for his debut as a loanee.

Swansea kept pressing forward for an equaliser, but were unable to force any mistakes from the obdurate Sunderland defence.

After absorbing the pressure from the visitors, the home side doubled their advantage thanks to a stunning volley from substitute Gardner, putting the result beyond any doubt.

From outside the Swansea penalty area, Gardner took the ball down on his chest before striking the ball into the top corner to give Sunderland a 2-0 advantage late in the game.