Football
John Brewin, ESPN FC 7y

Paul Clement influential in Swansea City win vs. Crystal Palace - Alan Curtis

New Swansea City boss made "a real positive contribution" after coming out of the stands to watch from the touchline as his new club beat Crystal Palace 2-1, caretaker manager Alan Curtis said.

Clement began his evening in the Selhurst Park stands with a watching brief. But by the end of the first half, after Alfie Mawson's 42nd-minute opener, he was in the technical area alongside Curtis, who had picked the team for the trip to South London.

"Paul came down, he made a real positive contribution," Curtis said after the game. "I met him the first time this afternoon, he came in the dressing room to talk to the players prior to the game, and also came down at half-time, then right at the end there, and was involved in the substitutes as well."

Swansea were hanging on for much of the second half as Sam Allardyce's team pushed for an equaliser, that eventually arrived through Wilfried Zaha in the 83rd minute. Yet Swansea grabbed a winning goal through long-serving substitute Angel Rangel, who volleyed home a pass from Leroy Fer, also on as a second-half sub.

Curtis said Clement was up for the task of leading Swansea after leaving his post as Carlo Ancelotti's assistant at Bayern Munich to join the Premier League strugglers.

"He wanted the challenge, I think," said Curtis, in his fourth spell as Swansea caretaker. "I told him that if I was him, I would have stayed there. He's prepared to take the challenge; all credit to him. He probably would have been surprised himself about how well we played, but we've got to take it on from here now."

Clement's arrival coincided with Swansea's first win in five matches; Bob Bradley was sacked on Dec. 27 after just two victories from 11 and 85 days in charge of the South Wales club. Beating Palace at Selhurst Park took Swansea within a point of safety, and dragged Palace into the relegation battle, a point above Clement's men.

"We have had a real disappointing first half to the season but this has given a huge lift," said Curtis. "If the players play like they did here, then they will shoot up the table. The new manager coming in definitely did give us a lift."

Rangel told Sky Sports how Clement had instructed the players on the game.

"It was tough when they scored but we dug in. It's about the work ethic, and everything paid off," he said.

"[Clement] said 'focus on the performance, and we can say we gave everything.' We dominated the first 45 minutes. In every department, we were the better team."

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