Football
PA sport 9y

Garry Monk thrilled by another Swansea clean sheet

Swansea manager Garry Monk heralded a second successive clean sheet as his side made it six points from six in the festive programme against Aston Villa.

Gylfi Sigurdsson's spectacular 13th-minute free-kick was enough to secure Swansea a 1-0 victory but Monk's men had to withstand late pressure at a rain-lashed Liberty Stadium with goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski making smart saves to deny Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor.

"I thought we were the better team and created enough chances to score that second goal and be more comfortable," Monk said.

"As the game drew towards the end Villa had to throw everything at us, but I thought we defended very well before the keeper comes in at the end.

"[Fabianski] has done well but that's his job. He didn't have too much to do but in the critical moment he has shown his concentration and professionalism."

Swansea opened their festive fixtures by grinding out a 1-0 win at Hull and it was much the same for long periods in the second half against Villa as Paul Lambert's side probed for an equaliser.

"We've had it all season apart from a couple of games where we could have done better," Monk said. "Our mentality, the way of defending, we've made the players work very hard and what it means to defend as a team.

"Every single player has a responsibility, they clearly understand that and it's nice to see they know what's needed.

"OK, we would love to have attacked for 90 minutes and play wonderful football but the conditions didn't help both teams. We create good chances, goalscoring chances, and we could have been more clinical but I don't feel fortunate at all to have won that game."

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