West Brom 1 Swansea City 1: Rondon salvages a point with last-gasp leveller

Salomon Rondon rescued a late point for West Brom to earn a 1-1 draw with Swansea City at The Hawthorns.

The Venezuela international scored his first Premier League goal since the end of October in the 92nd minute after a rousing finish from the hosts ensured they picked up a share of the spoils to boost their survival hopes. 

Swansea blocked several efforts off the line during a frantic goalmouth scramble, but Rondon was in the right place at the right time to prod home.

Rondon cancelled out Gylfi Sigurdsson's 64th-minute effort, leaving Swansea to rue what could have been as they chased a third win on the spin and second since Francesco Guidolin formally took charge. The result edges both sides further clear of the drop zone. 

Tony Pulis' team made a superb start and could have been in front inside the first two minutes. Midfielder Darren Fletcher was allowed to run freely into the box and his header from a Craig Dawson cross was tipped over by Lukasz Fabianski.

Swansea continued to struggle in possession, but were buoyed when Sigurdsson tried his luck from 30 yards out. Sigurdsson thought he had caught Ben Foster off his line in the 33rd minute, but the Albion goalkeeper marked his 200th Premier League appearance with a fine save. 

Guidolin, who had named an unchanged side following the 2-1 win over Everton last time out, was forced to hand Alberto Paloschi his debut when Ki Sung-yueng had to be substituted due to a head injury just before half-time that required lengthy treatment.

And former Chievo striker Paloschi could have scored within seconds of coming on, but Foster made himself big to clear the danger after a superb throughball from Andre Ayew. Fabianski made another key save himself as he ensured it remained goalless at the interval when he tipped Stephane Sessegnon's free-kick over.

Ayew was left frustrated at the start of the second half when he failed to connect with a cross inside the area, but the visitors continued to enjoy the majority of possession. Pulis then lost Jonny Evans due to a hamstring injury.

Sigurdsson broke the deadlock when he was allowed too much room on the edge of the box and he just found enough space to slot the ball past Foster.

The home support were quick to show their disappointment and substitute Victor Anichebe went close to levelling as his near-post strike in the 77th minute nearly found the top corner, but Fabianski was on hand to thwart the danger.

Paloschi went agonisingly close to making it 2-0 as he was denied by the post after meeting Kyle Naughton's cross with two minutes of normal time remaining, an incident that proved crucial as Fabianski was eventually beaten at the other end when Swansea failed to clear their lines from a set-piece in stoppage time.

Dawson went close with another effort and, when his strike was cleared off the line, Rondon pounced to ensure West Brom grabbed a crucial point in their battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League.


Key Opta stats:
- Salomon Rondon scored his first Premier League goal since October 2015, ending a run of nine games without a goal.
- West Brom are unbeaten in four Premier League games at The Hawthorns for the first time since February 2014 (six games).
- Gylfi Sigurdsson netted his fourth goal in five games and his seventh Premier League goal of the season for Swansea.
- This is the first time in 10 Premier League meetings that there has been a draw between the sides.