Swansea manager Steve Cooper was full of praise for Jay Fulton after his stunning strike in the 2-0 home win over Stoke.
The midfielder nonchalantly used the outside of his right boot to scoop the ball into the top-left corner to give his side a deserved lead in the 30th minute.
Kasey Palmer’s first goal for his new club three minutes from time wrapped up a first win in four games for Swansea.
It was a victory which also hoisted the Welsh club, who reached the play-offs last season, into second place.
Cooper said: “Jay Fulton was excellent and showed what a quality player he is. He is a brilliant professional and team-mate.
“His goal will grab the headlines but he does a lot of stuff that goes unnoticed by everyone except the coaching staff.
“It was a good scoreline, 2-0, and a it was another clean sheet.
“I thought we were excellent in the first half in terms of our general play – as good as we have been all season in how we want to play the game.
“It would have been easy to sulk after that penalty decision at Bristol last weekend but I thought we showed an excellent mentality and attitude.
“Things changed tactically in the second half and we had to work hard to get a foothold in the game. Then Kasey came on and wound things up.”
For Stoke manager Michael O’Neill, it was a rare defeat on the road just a few days after experiencing the high of beating Brentford 3-2 at the weekend.
He said: “It is our first defeat of the season away from home. We didn’t start well and it was a poor goal to concede in the first half.
“I thought their second goal was offside but over the course of the game we didn’t do enough to win. We didn’t get to the pace of the game quickly enough and we didn’t handle the pressure they put on us.
“We were still in the game at 1-0 but we didn’t create enough chances. We are missing key players at the moment.
“We’ve had a good start to the season but this is a disappointment. We’ve got to put it behind us and move on.”
