Michael Laudrup said the 2-2 draw with Sunderland felt like ‘more than a point’ after seeing his side twice come from behind in a game marred by Neil Taylor’s fractured ankle.
Taylor was stretchered off with a bad injury after a challenge with Craig Gardner, with the left-back taken to hospital immediately.
As the Swans looked to battle on following their team-mate’s injury, Sunderland took the lead shortly before the break through record-signing Steven Fletcher.
Wayne Routledge levelled early in first-half stoppage-time with a thumping finish before Fletcher restored the visitors’ lead in the final minute of added-on time.
But Laudrup’s men roared back to claim a point when Michu head in his fourth goal of the season, but the hosts had to play the final 20 minutes with ten men when Chico was shown a straight red card for a high challenge on Louis Saha.
And the Swans boss was absolutely delighted with the way in which his team came from behind in difficult circumstances.
“For me, today was the most important match of the season so far,” he said. “I saw so many good things over the 90 minutes, which was great because everything was against us.
“We lose Neil to a bad injury, then they score. We then score a great equaliser and then they score another when it was over the time added on.
“But then we come back once more and score a goal, and we are looking to push on and get the third and then we have a man sent off.
“We then kept the ball like it was 11 against 11 and showed great character – that is important for a manager.
“And it feels like much, much more than a point.”
Laudrup confirmed that Taylor had suffered a fractured left ankle and will be out of action for a ‘long period.’
As a result, youngster Ben Davies was handed his second Premier League appearance and performed admirably against England winger Adam Johnson.
“I’m really happy with what I saw today,” said Laudrup. “You need character to play at the highest level and we certainly showed that.
“Ben did very well when he came on, and he is only a young lad. Tate came on and showed great experience and Ki kept the ball extremely well in the midfield.”
For the visitors, it means two points from two games following last weekend’s postponement against Reading.
And Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill felt it was very much a point gained for his side.
“It was a game that seemed to have everything,” he said. “Swansea played very, very well and they keep the ball superbly.
“If I’m honest, I thought we surrendered the initiative early in the second half and that gave Swansea the momentum to go and score a deserved equaliser.
“And I thought that we didn’t do enough when they went down to ten men in terms of pressing higher up the field and making things happen around their penalty area.
“But we have had two very tough away games early on and today was a very fine point for us.”
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