Ben Pearson's first goal in six years and a familiar finish from Sorba Thomas gave Stoke City a hard-earned 2-1 victory over Swansea City that halted the hosts' slide and nudged them back into the Championship play-off places.
Pearson, a defensive midfielder with only a handful of league goals to his name, broke the deadlock just before half-time with a spectacular 25-yard strike, before leading scorer Thomas swept in Bae Junho's low cross on the hour to seemingly put the game beyond Vitor Matos' visitors.
But Zan Vipotnik's late reply from substitute Melker Widell's superb delivery transformed what looked like a routine home win into a tense finale, and it took some desperate late defending, including Junior Tchamadeu's goal-line clearance from Zeidane Inoussa's cross-shot, for Mark Robins' side to secure only their second victory in seven league games.
The result ended Stoke's run of three straight Championship defeats and gave them a sixth home league win of the season, while Swansea, who had arrived on the back of successive victories, slipped to 19th after suffering a sixth defeat in their last eight league outings and a sixth reverse on their travels.