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Flores rescues Swansea

Stoke-on-Trent - Swansea defender Chico Flores was back in interim manager Garry Monk's good books as his goal rescued a 1-1 draw at Stoke on Wednesday.

Monk's team were trailing to Peter Crouch's first half goal at a windswept Britannia Stadium, where the game only went ahead after two pre-match safety inspections due to the storm-force winds prior to kick off.

But Flores netted in the second half as the Spanish defender finally hit the headlines for the right reasons.

It has been a difficult few weeks for the 26-year-old, who was accused of diving to make the most of a challenge from Andy Carroll that led to the West Ham's striker's dismissal and subsequent three-match ban.

A few days later Flores was apparently involved in a training ground bust-up with Monk, who later insisted the incident had been blown out of proportion.

Flores then played his part in Saturday's 3-0 south Wales derby win over Cardiff as Monk began his managerial career with a bang after taking up the reins from the sacked Michael Laudrup.

And he was in the right place at the right time to net the equaliser against Mark Hughes' team and keep Swansea in 10th place.

Around 90 minutes before kick-off it appeared highly likely the game would be called off given the battering the stadium received from the gales.

But, unlike Wednesday's fixtures at Manchester City and Everton, the match was allowed to proceed and it proved the right decision as the winds started to drop by kick-off.

Crouch bagged his eighth goal of the season in the 17th minute, tapping home from close-range after Peter Odemwingie's effort rebounded back off a post.

It could have been 2-0 in the 20th minute but for Michel Vorm tipping over the crossbar a dipping 20-yard effort from Marko Arnautovic.

Swansea were better in the second half, with Wilfried Bony firing just over the angle of bar from the edge of the area 90 seconds in.

Flores then popped up with the equaliser, deftly flicking home a Pablo Hernandez cross beyond the despairing reach of Asmir Begovic in the 52nd minute.

Twelve minutes from time, Swansea thought they had the winner when a Bony shot was nudged goalwards by Begovic, only for captain Ryan Shawcross to hook off the line.

Then in the 86th minute Begovic pulled off a stunning save to deny substitute Jonathan de Guzman from long-range.


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