Swansea 1 West Brom 0 - Report and pictures

Ki Sung-Yeung's opportunistic poke home from a yard out in the ninth minute was enough to win a stop-start match lacking in quality.

The Baggies rarely created any chances from open play but were dangerous from corners, while Swansea gave the ball away far too easily in the first-half.

Albion should have had a penalty in the 28th minute when Chris Brunt was felled in the box by Angel Rangel, but referee Roger East waved the appeals away.

Four minutes from time, substitute Callum McManaman went down under a stray leg from Leon Britton, but it looked like the winger flung himself to the floor too easily and again East said no.

The win lifts Swansea - who are currently being coached by caretaker manager Alan Curtis - to within two points of the Baggies.

Swansea (4-3-3): Fabianski, Taylor, Ki, Williams (c), Britton (Shelvey 91), Ayew, Routledge (Barrow 90), Montero, Rangel, Sigurdsson, Fernandez.

Subs not used: Nordfeldt (gk), Gomis, Cork, Naughton, Bartley.

Albion (4-4-1-1): Myhill, Dawson, McAuley, Olsson (Sessegnon 59), Evans, Yacob (McManaman 80), Fletcher (c), Brunt, Morrison, Gardner (Berahino 59), Lambert.

Subs not used: Lindegaard (gk), Chester, Anichebe, Gamboa.

It leaves Pulis's side just three points above the drop zone with Newcastle, in 18th, the team coming to the Hawthorns on Monday.

Both Salomon Rondon and James McClean started their three-match bans for their red cards against Bournemouth.

Having missed the last two games on compassionate leave in Argentina, Claudio Yacob came back into starting line-up to replace McClean.

Rickie Lambert was swapped in up front for Salomon Rondon and it was the former Liverpool striker's first league start since the 0-0 draw with Southampton on September 12.

Cristian Gamboa was named in the squad for the first time since the defeat at Crystal Palace at the start of October.

Swansea quickly grabbed control of the ball but it was Albion who had the first glimpse at goal in the fifth minute, when goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski had to be quick off his line to claim Darren Fletcher's cross.

But, four minutes later, the Swans took the lead with the first meaningful attack of the game.

Right-back Rangel played a neat one two to get himself into the box and when his toe-poked effort came off the near post, it cannoned into the back of diving goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.

The Welshman looked to have grabbed the ball at the second attempt, but Ki rushed in and bundled the ball in from a yard out.

In the 16th minute, Craig Gardner won a free-kick from Ashley Williams right on the edge of the area, but Brunt's blasted attempted deflected behind for a corner which came to nothing.

Without the ball, Albion were defending with two banks of four, but with it they pushed Craig Dawson so far up the right wing that the formation turned into 3-5-2.

Moving Gardner inside off the right helped the Baggies put pressure on Swansea and steal the ball from the home side in their own half, as Curtis' men attempted to play through the middle with Leon Britton.

Pulis' side should have had a penalty in the 28th minute when Chris Brunt was felled clumsily by Rangel, but East said no and Fletcher's shot from the resulting bouncing ball went wide.

Albion's away fans were singing Saido Berahino's name in the stands, but their team were on top of proceedings.

A minute later, Gardner's dangerous inswinging corner flashed across the six-yard box, eluding the onrushing Dawson.

Not long after Dawson made a nuisance of himself from another corner but Fabianski claimed well under pressure from the right-back.

Jonas Olsson picked up the first booking of the match five minutes before half-time for going through the back of Andre Ayew.

The Swede then put in an important block to deny Jefferson Montero before Ayew dragged a long-range effort wide as Swansea finished the half on top.

Albion had failed to test Fabianski in the first-half. They had two shots on target at the start of the second period, although neither really troubled him.

First, James Morrison's volley from Lambert's knocked down header was comfortably gathered by the Swans goalkeeper, then he fell on Lambert's header from Brunt's left-wing cross.

Ki had the ball in Albion's net for a second time just before the hour mark, but the referee pulled play back for a foul on Gareth McAuley which looked soft and angered the home crowd.

Straight after that Pulis brought both Saido Berahino and Stephane Sessegnon on for Gardner and Olsson, giving both players half an hour to make an impact.

Sessegnon added something different to the Albion attack, and in the 73rd minute he jinked around the outside of his man, but Lambert was unable to turn in his cross at the near post.

McManaman was brought onto the field with 10 minutes left, then four minutes from the end he went down in the box under Britton's challenge.

Although the Swansea midfielder hung out a stray leg, McManaman appeared to jump over it and the referee said no once more.

Rangel took issue with McManaman's movement, pushing Albion's winger before he retaliated, and both were booked.

Berahino had a snap shot from the edge deflected behind and Dawson put a header from a corner straight into the ground.

But Albion didn't really create a gilt-edged chance in the closing stages and left South Wales with back-to-back defeats in the Premier League against teams below them in the table.