Swansea City came from from two goals down to rescue a 2-2 draw from their Premier League clash with Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium this afternoon.
The visitors looked to be on course for defeat when goals from Ibrahim Afellay and Bojan Krkic had given the home side a cushion, but Gylfi Sigurdsson and Alberto Paloschi struck in the final 22 minutes to earn a valuable point for the Swans.
The opening goal arrived after just 13 minutes when Marko Arnautovic collected the ball on the left before working a yard of space and standing a cross into the middle for Afellay to nod home on his 30th birthday.
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Clear-cut chances were hard to come by for both sides in the first half, and Afellay squandered a rare shooting chance 10 minutes before the break when he sliced his effort wide after good work from Krkic.
Swansea came close themselves right on the stroke of half time when Jack Cork let fly from the edge of the box, but Jakob Haugaard, in for the injured Jack Butland, was able to hold on to the effort.
It was the hosts who got the game's second goal just eight minutes after the restart when Bojan was allowed to carry the ball forward before picking out the bottom far corner with a left-footed effort that just escaped the reach of Lukasz Fabianski.
The second goal gave the Potters a boost and they came close to killing the game off once and for all just three minutes later when Gianelli Imbula's first-time effort was kept out by Fabianski.
Swansea responded with their first real clear chance of the match, but Erik Pieters was there to charge down Angel Rangel's shot from inside the area.
It was a warning that Stoke did not heed as the visitors pulled one back shortly afterwards, with Wayne Routledge darting down the right before picking out Sigurdsson, who turned on the edge of the box and fired a shot past Haugaard.
Suddenly it was the visitors who looked full of life, and an equaliser arrived with just over 10 minutes remaining when Paloschi was also afforded time to turn, although his strike took a deflection on its way past the keeper.
It was Stoke who began pushing for a winner in the closing stages as Arnautovic hit the side-netting with a free kick when Fabianski was rooted to the spot, while Joselu and Afellay also failed to hit the target from shooting opportunities.
Jefferson Montero had a late opening for the visitors that he pulled wide before Fabianski was called upon once more to deny Joselu in injury time, but ultimately both sides were forced to settle for a point.
It is a result that takes Swansea within one win of the 40-point mark, while Stoke have now only been beaten once in their last seven games.
Barney Corkhill
