Steven Benda | Penalty save was the best birthday present

Swansea City keeper Steven Benda described making a key penalty save in victory at West Bromwich Albion as the best possible way to celebrate his birthday.

The German goalkeeper turned 24 on Saturday, and put in a man-of-the-match performance between the sticks as the Swans defeated the Baggies 3-2 at The Hawthorns.

He made four key stops in the game including a save with his feet to deny Karlan Grant from the spot with the scores level at two apiece inside the last 10 minutes.

And the German was understandably delighted as his stop paved the way for Michael Obafemi to snatch a last-gasp winner in the west Midlands.

“It was a bit of a mad game,” said the birthday boy.

“I thought we had a couple of great chances in the first half and we probably should have scored more.

“To be fair to West Brom, they’ve got good players and they did well to get back into the game.

“The subs that came on were incredible, they gave us so much energy and they obviously scored the goals as well.

“Scoring late goals is the best feeling in football, it was great.”

When it came to the penalty, however, he admitted that it was as much instinct as practice that helped him become the second Swansea keeper to save a spot-kick this season, following Andy Fisher's similar heroics at Blackpool.

“I went to the left, but I managed to get my feet to it and thankfully I saved it,” he added.

“I always look at penalties before the games, how they take them, where they score and then, in the game, there’s a bit of instinct involved as well.

“Saving a penalty is not a bad birthday gift, I guess. It’s a really nice feeling.

“I think both teams played well. They played well, we played well. I was able to make a couple of saves and thankfully we got the win.

“The momentum is really important for us. We just need to keep working hard so we can keep this streak going.”