Premier League: Swansea 0 Newcastle 2

Papiss Cisse made it nine goals in eight games with a double for Newcastle United to help his side to a 2-0 Premier League win over Swansea.

The in-form Senegalese striker put his side ahead after just five minutes at Liberty Stadium after racing onto Yohan Cabaye’s pass, before chipping Michel Vorm with a remarkable effort after 69 minutes to grab his sixth goal in just three games.

The result leaves Alan Pardew’s side just two points behind Arsenal and Tottenham, third and fourth respectively, having played a game more.

The home side enjoyed a startling 77 per cent of possession but rarely made it count with Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul pressured just a handful of times.

However, the visitors were the polar opposite converting twice from just four shots on target.

Cisse opened the scoring when a telling first-time pass from Cabaye caught out the Swansea defence to allow the Senegalese striker to slot home with just goalkeeper Vorm to beat.

This was only one of two chances the visitors had on goal in the opening 45 minutes, with Brendan Rodgers’ side boasting 80% of possession at the break, leaving many Newcastle players mere observers for much of the half.

Despite the possession, Swansea never managed to mount a serious attack on the Newcastle goal until the half-hour mark when on-loan midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson’s powerful attempt from 25 yards out caused Krul to pull off a fine save.

Swansea came out after the break much stronger and nearly netted after just 40 seconds when Nathan Dyer worked the ball into the crowded box for Sigurdsson to try and curl a shot into the bottom corner, but his effort went past the wrong side of the post.

With Swansea looking far more threatening, Cisse hit the killer blow.

Cabaye was once again the provider, but this was a goal brought about purely by the skill of the striker as he managed to dig the ball out of his feet, while off balance, to chip a surprised Vorm and seal all three points with 20 minutes remaining.

The home side’s hopes seemed to vanish after falling further behind, but Sigurdsson and Dyer nearly snatched a late consolation with first a snapshot from the edge of the box and then a soft header that Krul claimed with ease.

For Swansea, it is the first time this season that they have lost three matches in succession, and the Welsh side could drop to as low as 14th come the end of the weekend.

Newcastle, on the other hand, now boast four consecutive wins with their Champions League ambitions looking brighter each week.