Luke Williams finally earned his first league home victory as Swansea head coach at the fifth attempt with a 2-1 win against Blackburn.
Williams’ previous four Sky Bet Championship matches in front of Swansea fans had all ended in defeat, but first-half goals from Joe Allen and Jamie Paterson enabled him to break that sequence.
The Championship’s top scorer Sammie Szmodics pulled a goal back for Blackburn just past the hour mark, but Rovers were unable to make their second-half dominance pay.
It meant back-to-back league wins for the Swans for the first time since October.
But Blackburn are now without a win in their last six matches in all competitions and although they are 17th in the table, they are only a point above the drop zone.
Swansea started positively and were rewarded when they went ahead in the seventh minute through Allen’s second goal of the season.
Winger Przemyslaw Placheta did the hard yards on the left and when his cross was not cleared properly, former Wales international Allen was able to drill his shot downwards and bounce it into the far corner.
Blackburn found the pace of Placheta and fellow wide man Ronald difficult to handle, with Kyle McFadzean picking up an early yellow card for a foul on Ronald.
But Rovers also added to their own troubles by giving the ball away and it was from such an error that they fell 2-0 behind after 19 minutes.
Andrew Moran lost possession under pressure from Swans skipper Matt Grimes with the ball falling into the path of Paterson.
He swept past McFadzean before firing low past Blackburn keeper Aynsley Pears from the edge of the box.
Rovers’ own attacking threat was minimal in the opening half hour with a shot from Callum Brittain that flashed past the far post, and another from the wing-back that was held by keeper Carl Rushworth.
But their efforts intensified just before the break and Tyrhys Dolan saw one effort saved and another go just wide of the post.
Blackburn made two substitutions at half-time – bringing on Arnor Sigurdsson and Yasin Ayari – and looked more threatening.
It needed two timely interventions from Swansea centre-back Ben Cabango to keep out Rovers striker Sam Gallagher as the visitors looked for a way back into the contest.
Cabango stepped up for a third time to block an effort from Szmodics, but moments later Rovers’ top scorer had pulled a goal back with his 25th of the season in all competitions.
A free-kick on the right from John Buckley reached Szmodics and the striker reacted sharply to sweep the ball home in the 67th minute.
Blackburn were now in the ascendancy and Swansea were clinging on to their narrow advantage.
But from a rare home breakout, substitute Jerry Yates should have given Swansea breathing space, only for the striker to dither over his shot which enabled Pears to save.
Despite defending for most of the nine minutes of added time, Williams’ side kept Rovers at bay.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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