Swansea made a winning return to action following the international break after edging out Norwich 1-0 to secure their first league victory in three matches.
Amankwah Forson’s fourth-minute own goal was all that separated the sides at the Swansea.com Stadium in a clash between two teams still in early-season transition.
Swansea forward Eom Ji-sung showed no early signs of fatigue after international duty with South Korea. Following long-haul jaunts to Seoul and Oman, the winger emerged as the Swans’ main creative outlet in the first half.
It was Eom’s inviting early cutback across the Norwich box that earned the home side a fortuitous opener, with Forson was caught wrong-footed to deflect the ball past his own goalkeeper Angus Gunn from six yards out.
That early goal set the tone for an entertaining half with both teams showing a willingness to play on the front foot. Josh Sargent, spearheading the Canaries frontline despite returning early from his USA commitments with an ankle worry, looked the most likely player to cancel out Swansea’s lead.
Sergent charged into the Swans box almost immediately after Norwich had fallen behind but saw his powerful drive beaten away by Lawrence Vigouroux, before glancing a headed effort narrowly beyond the far post.
Eom confidently continued to pull the strings for Swansea and his 25-yard dipper sent Gunn scrambling to help the ball over the bar.
After failing to make any inroads in the opening stages of the second half, Norwich turned to young Croatian substitute Ante Crnac for fresh attacking impetus but despite their increasing dominance of possession, Swansea were able to maintain their composure and remained a nagging threat on the break.
Chances would be limited for both sides, although substitute Florian Bianchini was inches away from sealing Swansea the three points, when he desperately threw himself at Ollie Cooper’s probing delivery at the far post with 13 minutes remaining.
Norwich attacked with increased urgency in the closing stages and after Sargent’s clever back-heel released Borja Sainz, home defender Ben Cabango denied what seemed a certain goal with a perfectly timed last-ditch challenge on the Spaniard.
Sainz had one more final chance to secure the Canaries a point in added time after being picked out by Onel Hernandez, but squandered his finish from eight yards allowing Swansea to claim a hard-fought win.
