Michael Carrick praised his Middlesbrough players for digging deep and finding a way to win, in what Swansea boss Luke Williams described as an “atrocious game of football” at the Riverside.
Williams was furious after his side slumped to a 2-0 defeat that leaves the Swans just five points above the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.
But Carrick’s Boro are now unbeaten in their last seven matches and are just six points off the play-off places ahead of Wednesday’s crucial trip to Hull.
Emmanuel Latte Lath came up with two moments of quality to secure Boro’s second home win in a week, with the Ivorian striking either side of half-time to take his tally for the season to 10 in the league and 12 in all competitions.
Latte Lath opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time then wrapped up the points 11 minutes from time with a clinical right-footed finish.
Carrick said: “I’m delighted to be honest. It’s the type of game that can pass you by if you don’t do the right things.
“I thought the boys were disciplined and effective and efficient in the work we wanted to do.
“We knew they’re good in taking the ball in possession. We were patient and disciplined, defended the box well and defended in our half well.”
Latte Lath now has five goals in nine games since returning from injury.
Carrick said: “Manu is coming into form. He’s had a big impact, he’s had a good return and hopefully there’s a few more in him.
“Hopefully his form carries on. When you’re on that run you want to keep surfing it. He’s definitely doing that. We have two or three challenging games coming up, we’ll need that impact player around the box.”
Boro’s rivals for the play-off places – Norwich, Hull and Coventry – all won on Saturday but Carrick said his players just need to concentrate on themselves as they look to force their way into the top six.
He said: “We’re coming from behind. We’ve put a bit of a run together, we just have to try and extend that as long as we can.
“Wednesday is a new challenge and will have a bit of a say on what the picture looks like after that. We just have to keep chipping away and see how we end up.”
Swansea mustered only one shot on target at the Riverside and have now won just one of their last six games.
Williams, who took over in January after leaving Notts County, said his players need to prove they should be part of his long-term plans at the club.
He fumed: “It was just an atrocious game of football, an absolutely diabolical example of the Championship.
“It would have been nicer if we’d won, at least we could have then pretended to be happy about something, but goodness me.
“There was nothing right about that. It was like going to a charity game in the summer, no atmosphere, a bit of talking in the crowd.
“The first goal was a comedy, the second one isn’t loads better. It’s hard to find anything good about today, especially when you don’t get any points.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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