Fernandez salutes top-scorer Llorente
22nd January
Federico Fernandez hailed Fernando Llorente's importance to Swansea City after the Spaniard's brace helped secure a 3-2 win at Liverpool.
World Cup winner Llorente put the Swans ahead two minutes after the break at Anfield, before he headed home Tom Carroll's thunderous cross soon after to double the visitors' lead.
Liverpool rallied and struck back twice to level, but Gylfi Sigurdsson's seventh goal of the season handed the Swans a precious victory on Merseyside.
And Fernandez was quick to praise Llorente's impact at Liverpool, as his goals helped secured a first league victory at Anfield and inflict a first home defeat for the Reds in over a year.
"The goals were very important for Fernando. A striker needs confidence, and goals give you that," added the Argentinian centre-back.
"He showed with the first goal that he is very aware in the box of any opportunity to score.
"His second goal was typical Fernando. He was making space for himself in the box before the cross, and then he uses his strength and ability in the air to make it impossible for the keeper to save.
"He's a very important player in this team, not only in the final third but defensively as well because he is strong in the air.
"He is very focussed on the team and helping us move away from the bottom three, and we 're glad to have him at Swansea."
Victory moved the Swans out of the relegation zone, with head coach Paul Clement savouring his first win since taking over the helm.
And Fernandez was delighted with both the performance and points, adding the challenge now for Clement's side is to back that up when Southampton visit the Liberty on January 31.
"It was an amazing three points," he added. "After we went 2-0 up we had to deal with a lot of pressure from Liverpool.
"Anfield is a difficult place to play, and we still believed even when they came back to 2-2.
"It was a sign of our character that we can bounce back from those setbacks to win the game.
"We went to Liverpool knowing they had a very good record at Anfield, but we have ended that run with our first league win there.
"The test for us now is to continue this performance in the games coming up.
"We have a day to recover, then it's about preparing for Southampton.
"We will train hard and prepare for another very tough game, but we know that we can pick up three points if we can repeat this level of performance."
