Swansea City earned their first win of 2025 with a hard-fought victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

Despite being second best for much of what was a dreadful first-half showing, the Swans took the lead just after the break when Josh Tymon tucked home his first ever Swansea goal, after Goncalo Franco's effort had initially been saved by home goalkeeper Max O'Leary.

Sam Bell came closest to finding a leveller for the hosts, who will no doubt be wondering how they didn't kill the game off in the opening 45 minutes. However, his low drive midway through the second half came rattling off the post, and Swansea held on to claim all three points.

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The win sees Swansea edge up to 16th ahead of the visit of Sheffield Wednesday in midweek, and opens up a nine-point gap between them and the relegation zone.

The victory also eases the pressure on Luke Williams, who had previously seen his men take just one point from their last six games.

A lifeline for Williams

Had Swansea gone down to defeat here, it would condemned them to their longest losing run since April 2004.

So the importance of this result, regardless of the circumstances, can't be understated, with Williams coming under increased pressure in recent weeks.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that his job has unquestionably been made exponentially harder by the incompetence of those above him.

Taking aim at him has often felt akin to scolding an Olympic sprinter for not coming close to the podium, despite being full in the knowledge that one of their kneecaps has been replaced by a used dish sponge and they happen to be missing a few toes.

Oh, and they've been blindfolded, spun around several times on their way up to the starting line, and pumped full of gin.

But when it comes to getting a tune out of the current crop, the buck, rightly or wrongly, always stops with the manager.

After watching their side go the first half hour without mustering up a shot on goal, Swans fans would have had every right to ask some pretty searching questions of the man standing on the sidelines.

But Tymon's second-half strike was the high point of what was a surging improvement after the break, and there was plenty of character on display as the game wore on. Character that Williams now has to harness over the coming weeks.

At full time he duly applauded the travelling support, and the impromptu huddle as the fans jubilantly worked their way through their songbook, only further emphasised the importance of this victory.

Franco's moment of magic sees Swans through after horrible first half

Swansea’s shape in the opening 45 minutes at Ashton Gate drifted between the intriguing and outright chaotic at times, and as a result they didn’t land a glove the hosts, who on the whole looked pretty comfortable.

Williams has already admitted that replacing the presence of metronomic midfielder Matt Grimes was always going to be a challenge, and it initially felt like a problem he didn't quite have the answers to.

Not that it was much better elsewhere, mind.

Ronald in particular, didn’t look comfortable carrying out his defensive duties in a wing-back role that also seemed to nullify much of his presence in the final third.

Swansea looked overrun, while the likes of Eom Jisung, Liam Cullen, and even debutant Lewis O’Brien didn’t initially appear massively sure of their roles. Were it not for the brilliance of Lawrence Vigouroux, Swansea could easily have gone into the break several goals down.

However, the second half brought about a huge improvement in intensity and energy, and with it, some signs that life after Grimes might well be possible.

Portuguese midfielder Franco perhaps embodied that point. After a difficult opening 45 minutes, it was his tenacity and quality that inspired Swansea's decisive goal, bringing a loose ball down brilliantly before playing a one-two with Vipotnik, before firing in an effort that was palmed by O'Leary straight to Tymon, who was left with a simple finish.

O’Brien’s drops hints on his debut

The 26-year-old has already stated he wasn't a direct replacement for Grimes, and so it proved.

Grimes was often a calming, almost soothing presence in midfield at times, clocking up the passes at will and doing his best to ensure things kept ticking over.

O'Brien seems a lot more aggressive and energetic. A player who constantly wants the ball, and looks to make something happen. He appears to be more about passages and moments in contrast to the underlying sense of presence that Grimes offered.

There were two key moments from this encouraging debut that might just hint at what's to come.

With the Swans already 1-0 up, O'Brien did brilliantly to pinch the ball from Zak Vyner and drive downfield, before arching a sublime cross in for Eom Jisung, whose effort was straight at O'Leary.

Then, at the other end a few minutes later, he put his body on the line to halt one of several shots that started to rain down on the Swans goal, before allowing himself the sort of double fist pump one might expect had he actually scored. In total he made four blocks on the day, and more than played his part in a colossal defensive showing.

His backers have painted the picture of an all-action box-to-box number eight, and there was certainly some evidence of that here.

The moment that left Tymon fuming

Going back to that Eom chance. Had referee John Busby not got in the way, there's every chance Tymon might well have had another goal to cheer.

The left-back was racing into the box to try and get on the end of the Korean's rebounded effort, but was halted in his run by the official, who couldn't quite get out the way.

He couldn't hide his frustrations as he raced back into position, with Busby unable to offer much more than an apologetic shrug.

Luckily it didn't prove costly.

Naughton rolls back the years

Kyle Naughton’s best years may well be behind him, but on this evidence, there's plenty of life in the old dog yet.

He was superb here.

Not only did he create Swansea's two best chances in what was otherwise a headache-inducing first half, courtesy of two superb defence-splitting passes, he also carried out his defensive duties with minimal fuss all afternoon before being substituted.

Should Williams wish to stick to the same system as before, the challenge in replacing Grimes will be finding someone capable of emerging from defence and playing a pass that breaks the lines. Critics will perhaps argue Grimes didn’t do that enough. Others will point out that Harry Darling, who was serving the final game of his suspension today, might also be a contender to play that role.

But Naughton, at 36, showed he still has plenty to offer this team, and might just be entrusted to play that role again.

Player ratings: Vigouroux 8; Naughton 8 (Key 72' 6), Cabango 7, Delcroix 7, Tymon 7; Franco 8, O'Brien 7; Eom 6 (Fulton 84' 6), Ronald 6, Cullen 6 (Cooper 84' 6), Vipotnik 6 (Bianchini 69' 6)