Swansea City 2-1 Blackburn Rovers: Dazzling first-half show hands Luke Williams first home league win

Swansea City eased their way to a first home league win under Luke Williams courtesy of a superb first-half showing against Blackburn Rovers.

Joe Allen's second goal of the season put the hosts in front after just seven minutes, before Jamie Paterson doubled the lead just over 10 minutes later.

Sammie Szmodics then pulled one back for the visitors midway through a second half that also saw Paterson forced off with injury, to set up a nervous finish.

But just as they did last week, the Swans held on for a crucial three points, recording back-to-back league wins for the first time since October in the process.

The victory moves Swansea up to 15th in the table, although results elsewhere mean the gap between themselves and the relegation zone remains four points.

Nevertheless, while the sight of the table might put a pin in Swansea's joy a little, the importance of this result can't be overstated.

Psychologically, the failure to deliver a league victory at home had weighed heavy around the neck of Swans boss Williams, who admitted this week it was up to the players to give the Jack Army something to shout about at the Swansea.com Stadium. Indeed, before this clash, only Rotherham United and Millwall had taken fewer than Swansea's 17 points at home.

For this latest attempt, against a Blackburn side that had taken just two points from their last eight away outings, Swansea stuck to the blueprint that had yielded such brilliant results on the road at Sunderland last weekend, with Williams naming an unchanged line-up.

For about an hour, it worked a charm.

The imperious Allen, one of the stars of that success on Wearside, has enjoyed something of a mini-renaissance since returning from injury, and after providing an assist against