Swansea began on the front foot as Neil Taylor spooned a long-range effort over the bar before Jefferson Montero failed to guide Nathan Dyer's cross on target.

Gylfi Sigurdsson of Swansea City celebrates with Jefferson Montero as he scores their first goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Swansea City and Aston Villa at Liberty Stadium on December 26, 2014 © Getty Images

Gabriel Agbonlahor then flashed a powerful drive wide of Lukasz Fabianski's far post, but the Swans took the lead in the 13th minute as Sigurdsson bent an accurate free kick beyond the reach of Brad Guzan.

Neither side were able to create any openings for a while but Villa came within whiskers of levelling when Christian Benteke's free kick swung just wide of the far post at the very last second.

Ashley Williams's blushes were spared minutes before the break as the Swansea skipper missed from a matter of yards, only to see the flag raised for offside.

Benteke almost repeated his goalscoring feat from the weekend but bent a left-footed shot wide of the far post, before Andreas Weimann slipped as he sent a weak effort into the arms of Fabianski.

Ki Sung-yueng then squandered a good opportunity to make it 2-0 as he blazed the ball over the bar after a skilful one-two with Sigurdsson.

With 20 minutes remaining, Villa saw a strong appeal for a penalty waved away when Williams bundled Agbonlahor over inside the box with the striker about to pull the trigger.

Deep into stoppage time, Fabianski pulled off two reflex saves to deny Benteke and Agbonlahor as Swansea ground out a three important points on home soil.