Williams lifts Swansea out of drop zone as Guidolin looks on
Swansea, United Kingdom - Swansea City gave new head coach Francesco Guidolin the perfect welcome present, beating Watford 1-0 to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone on Monday.
Guidolin was announced as Swansea head coach, to work alongside interim manager Alan Curtis, just hours before kick-off at the Liberty Stadium.
The 60-year-old Italian will have the final say on team selection, but he could only look on from the stands before his first official fixture at Everton on Sunday.
Guidolin's presence had the desired effect as Ashley Williams' first-half goal secured Swansea's first win in its last five games in all competitions.
Swansea's second success in its last 13 matches lifted the club above Newcastle into 17th place. Guidolin will begin work with the south Wales outfit one point clear of the bottom three, as he bids to maintain its top-flight status for a sixth successive season.
With only one victory in seven games under Curtis since he replaced the sacked Garry Monk, Swansea felt compelled to make a change, and the early signs were promising.
Since leaving his role at Udinese last May, Guidolin had worked as a technical supervisor for the three teams belonging to the Pozzo family - Udinese, Watford and Granada - so he may have had a few interesting insights to pass along to Curtis.
Jack Cork fired over from long-range and Andre Ayew prodded a shot straight at Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes in a lively opening from the hosts.
After dominating the initial skirmishes, Curtis' team was rewarded in the 27th minute when Wales international Williams rose highest to power in Ki Sung-yueng's cross for the first goal by any Swansea defender since March 2014.
Watford didn't have its first shot on target until a minute before half-time, when Ben Watson's free-kick was only cleared as far as Jurado, who shot straight at Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Watson was the provider again when Watford came close to equalising early in the second half, but this time Miguel Britos flicked a header narrowly over the crossbar from the midfielder's free-kick.
Jurado forced Fabianski into a decent save as Watford pushed for a late equaliser, but when Troy Deeney shot wide in stoppage-time, Guidolin was finally able to start celebrating.